Sightless Music
by Change of Heart-Good and Evil
Summary: After a tragic accident that leaves Yugi blind and her older brother dead, Yugi is left to deal with her the sorrow and anger of her parents. However, it is her unusual love for music that saves her and launches her into the arms of her favorite lead singer; Yami Sennen of Millenium. But will her parents and her own insecurities stop her from true happiness? Characters from GX&5Ds.
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter One: The Music Lovers._

Yugi Mutou stared out of the car's tinted windows, her head in her hands. It had been a long day at school and all she wanted to do was get home. Her head was killing her from all the noises of the classroom and bumping into three people as well as a desk didn't help.

"Lady Yugi, are you all right?" asked the driver as they pulled to a stop in front of Yugi's house.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just been a long day." She said as she waited for the door to be opened for her. The driver held the girl's hand as he led her up to the front door of the house and opened it. Yugi quickly thanked him and started to slowly make her way to the staircase. Gripping the banister tightly, Yugi made her way up to the second story then down the hall to her room.

The thud of the door closing echoed across the very empty space. Yugi had always like simplicity. There was nothing in the large room aside from a bed, a desk, and the two doors that lead to the closet and her on-suit bathroom. Nothing in her room matched, her bed spread was a bright pink, while the walls and the floor was blue, and the curtains were a very dark green, but Yugi ignored this fact constantly.

Very carefully, Yugi hung her school bag on the hook on the back of her closet door before walking over to her desk and pulling out her laptop. After typing in her password, she went about checking her emails, Face Book, and Deviant Art pages.

"Wow! I'm already up to a hundred favorites!" The girl stated happily as she continued to browse through her page, not that she could see it. Yugi let out a sigh before turning on her iTunes and listening to her new favorite band Millennium. Yugi nodded her head slightly as the song "The Older I Get" started to play. Yugi got to her feet and walked over to her closet, pulling out the preplanned outfit the staff had given her. After getting changed, Yugi waked over to her bed and lay down, letting the soothing music wash over her.

_What was I waiting for? (What was I waiting for?)_

_I should have taken less and given you more,_

_I should have weathered the storm. (I need to say so bad!)_

_What were you waiting for? (What were you waiting for?)_

_This could have been the best we'd ever had!_

_The older I get, will I get over it?_

_I spent way too long for the times we missed,_

_I didn't think that it would hurt like this,_

_But I think,_

_The older I get, will I get over it?_

_I spent way to long, for the times we missed,_

_I can't believe it still hurts like this!_

_Hurts like this!_

_I'm just getting older; I'm not getting over you,_

_I'm trying to._

_I wish it didn't hurt like this!_

_I spent way too long, for the times we missed,_

_I can't believe it still hurts like this!_

Yugi listened intently as the music faded out to be replaced by the sound of a heavy metal guitar solo at the beginning of the next song, "Time of Dying".

_On the ground I lay, motionless in pain._

_I can see my life flashing before my eyes._

_Did I fall asleep? Is this all a dream?_

_Wake me up! I'm living a nightmare!_

_I will not die; I'll wait here for you!_

_I will not die when you're beside me!_

_I will not die! I'll wait here for you,_

_In my time of dying!_

A small smirk covered the girl's face as she listened to the deep, baritone voice as he sung into the mike. The singer of the band Millennium was amazing in her opinion. 'Whoever can sing so menacingly but sound so beautiful has to be very talented!' she thought as the second song on her play-list ended with the sounds of fading guitars. However, just as the next song begun to play, a knock was sounded at the door. Yugi sat up glaring, 'That's weird. I didn't hear any footsteps...' Yugi's thoughts trailed off as she walked over to the laptop and paused the music. "Come in." she called out as the door opened to reveal one of the many servants of her home.

"Lady Yugi, dinner is served." the servant by the name of Solomon smiled at the young girl as she closed up her laptop and walked over to him. Solomon had been a butler here for many years and had been watching over little Yugi ever since her birth. The two of them were great friend despite the fact that he was old enough to be her grandfather and in many ways, he was. Solomon quickly took the girl's hand as soon as she was in reach and led her down the hall towards the stairs. Yugi's grip tightened as they got closer the dining hall, and when they reached said room, she reluctantly let go of the old man's hand. Solomon let a frown litter his face as she stepped into the room, 'It's not fair.' he thought sadly, 'Such a sweet girl should have a better life than this.' Solomon turned on his heals to go back to the kitchens where he was needed, 'Ever since the accident, she has received nothing but scorn from her family. That girl is too young to bear the weight of a life.'

Yugi walked into the dining room and took her usual seat on the left hand side of her little, thirteen year old brother, Jaden, and across from her step mother, Tea. Her father, Gozobouro, walked in shortly after and took his place at the head of the table. Dinner was quiet for Yugi, she sat in silence as her little brother talked with her dad and step mom about how good school was that day and how he had made a new friend named Cyrus and how they got along really well. Yugi smiled at her brother, he was so sweet when he was happy. "So Yugi how was school for you?" Jaden asked as he continued to eat.

Yugi swallowed, "It was fine, nothing much to tell." she said as she also returned to her meal.

"Come now, Yugi. Surely there must have been something." said her father as he glared.

Yugi wanted to shiver at the feeling her father eyes on her, but she didn't. Instead she shrugged, "Nothing really happened. I got some more home work and I have a quiz to study for tomorrow."

"Have you decided on what you will study in college?" her father asked.

Yugi shook her head, "Not yet, I still don't know what I want to do..." Yugi trailed off, hoping that it would be the end of the conversation. Fortunately, no one said anything more about school and the room went back to it's uncomfortable silence.

**Elsewhere...**

Yami Sennen stared at the blank page in front of him and let out a sigh, "Damn, it's getting harder to find inspiration now..." The teen rubbed his temples in frustrations as well as to sooth the headache beginning to form. A sudden crash from the other room followed by loud laughter broke into his distracted thoughts. "Guys, could you please keep it down in there? This song isn't going to write itself." Not a moment later, five teens walked into the room carrying several pizza boxes.

"What's wrong, Yams?" asked the blond, who, despite being a girl, was almost five foot ten and had a slice of pizza hanging from her mouth.

Yami stared at his fellow band members as if they were nuts, "Guys, we need a new song! Our other stuff is getting old and we need to work on this!" he yelled at them before turning back to his paper. Yami and the rest of his friends had formed a band named Millennium a few years back and had been doing well so far. They already had two CDs out and they had four No. 1 hits since then, but he needed something new. Something they hadn't tried.

"Hey, why don't we hold a competition?" one of the platinum blond haired lovers questioned.

Yami's head turned around so fast, the rest of them were worried he'd get whiplash. "W-What did you say?" The girl shifted slightly, not saying anything. "Malik, what did you mean?" Yami asked calmer than before.

Malik grinned a little, "Well, I was thinking, if you're having trouble in writing lyrics, why don't we ask our fans? We put up a competition for who can write the best lyrics, and if we put on the rules that their lyrics just might wind up in a song of ours, we get a good look at what the fans want and you get new inspiration. Simple."

The rest of the group stared at the girl in silence, that is, until Yami let out his signature smirk that had won the hearts of thousands, "Malik, you're a genius!"

Malik looked smug, "Of course I am!"

The taller of the two white haired teens rolled his eyes, "Sure, whatever tomb keeper."

Not a minute later the rest of the band was in the back room fighting over the pizza while Yami set about making Malik's plan possible.

**The next day...**

Yugi hummed to herself as she pulled on her school uniform, a bright pink blazer, white collared shirt, navy blue skirt and neck tie, and a pair of knee high white socks. Yugi pulled on her shoes and tied them to the best of her ability and walked over to the desk. The young girl rummaged through the top drawer of her desk until she found what she wanted, pulling out the large set of sunglasses that she had put in the drawer after school the day before. Yugi walked to the bathroom and started brushing her teeth and doing her hair. Yugi's bathroom didn't have a mirror, but if it did, she wouldn't have needed it.

Yugi was short for her age, at seventeen years old and only five three; Yugi was commonly mistaken for a middle schooler while her younger brother was already five and climbing fast. Yugi also had very odd hair, it was black with golden bangs that framed her face and a hint of violet graced the tips of her hair as it brushed her shoulders. She had violet eyes that were so big and innocent you could lose yourself in them with only a glance, except, they could no longer see. Yugi was blind. If you looked at her, you wouldn't be able to tell, except for the long, dark scar that ran over her eyelids and the faint white line across each eye. With a sigh, Yugi pulled on the sunglasses, successfully hiding her unseeing eyes from the world.

The young girl walked back into her room and grabbed her school bag and quickly shoved the books she would need for the day and her laptop into the bag. Suddenly, the gentle sound of shoes hitting the carpet met her ears and by the sound of it, the person had a small limp on their right side. Yugi smiled as Solomon knocked on the door, "Come in, Jiichan!" she called happily as she swung her bad over her shoulder.

Solomon smiled as he walked into the room, "How could you tell it was me?"

Yugi giggled, "You have a slight pause in your footsteps that no one else has..." Yugi trailed off as more footsteps found their way to her, "and to prove my point, here's Jaden!" Sure enough, Jaden Mutou quickly ran through the door and bolted toward his sister for a hug but she side stepped.

"Hey!" Moaned Jaden as he missed his target, "How did you know where I was?"

Yugi rolled her eyes, but realized they couldn't see it so she shrugged, "You're as loud as an elephant when you run, and it's kinda scary." Jaden glared at her, not knowing that she could feel the glare prickling against her skin. "Hey, no need for that face, I'm just stating the truth." The two looked at her as if she'd gone crazy, but dropped it. "So, shall we go to breakfast?" Yugi asked as she started walking towards to door.

After breakfast, Yugi found herself being lead toward the front door by Solomon, "Shall we get going, Lady Yugi?"

Yugi smiled, "Of course!"

A few minutes later, the two of them were sitting in the car on the way to school with the radio blaring. Not many of the staff knew of Yugi's love for music so many left the car ride silent but Solomon knew better. The moment the car was far enough from the curb, he would turn on the radio and watch the smile that would light up the girl's face, and after a song had finished, he would ask her what she thought of it. The song that was currently playing was "I'm Not Dead" by P!nk. "What did you think of that one?" asked Solomon, genuinely interested in the girl's answer.

Yugi thought for a moment, "I like how much it meaning it has as well as the sound it produced, so over all, I think it's one of her best songs!"

A moment later, the announcer came back on, **"That was I'm Not Dead By P!nk. And now we have a relatively new band, Please welcome, Millennium and their song My Immortal."**

Yugi's smile became wider than it had been as the song started to play, and Solomon, seeing the look on Yugi's face, turned it up so her sensitive ears could be surrounded by the music. Yugi started to memorize the song, listening intently to the words that flowed from the radio as the lead singer's voice filled the car. Solomon smiled as the girl's head gently rocked with the music as her lips silently mouthed the words, but after a few moments of this silent singing, her voice started to flow from her mouth, complementing the singer's deep pitch with her slightly higher one. All too soon the song ended and Yugi went back to silence, but not for long when the announcer came back.

"**And now, for all those Millennium lovers out there, allow me to introduce the voice of the band himself, Yami Sennen." **A steady set of footsteps scuffed against the carpeted floor of the studio as the gentle sound of jingling chains also was heard,** "Nice to meet you, Yami."**

"_**Nice to meet you too."**_ came the reply of a voice Yugi knew very well.

"**So tell us Yami, what's it like being your age and being an international star? I mean, twenty and already you have two CDs that are frequently sold out."**

A low chuckle sounded through the speakers,_** "Well, I wouldn't say it's hard but it's not easy either, but in the end I'm doing the thing I love with my best friends and making people happy."**_

"**There's something I've been dying to ask, what's with the look? Where did the idea of chains and black leather come from?"**

Again, there was chuckle but by the sound of it, he was trying to hide it, _**"Truth is, most of my fans and contractors just thought it would look right with the type of songs we sing, but the real origin of it was when I was in high school, believe it or not. All six of us went to high school together, and on just some random day we decided to go to the arcade and I wore leather. Marik and Bakura never let me live it down, but when we were getting ready for our first gig three years ago, the two of them decided that we go back to the good old days and all where leather, and it's been that way ever since. It's more of a sentimental thing, although, I think doing a concert in a T-shirt would be a whole lot easier."**_

Peter laughed, **"I didn't expect anything like that! But tell me, you were saying earlier that there was a contest you and you're band were working on, right? Why don't you share something about that?"**

"_**Sure. You see. Me and the gang thought it would be fun to see how creative our fans can get so we're putting on a challenge to see who of our fans can write the best lyrics for us. The rules are simple, send us in your lyrics by either email or post starting from now until May 23 and the band and I will personally go through them and choose our top three and if we like it enough, we might even put some of their lyrics into a song. Ryou's putting up contact details on our fan sight as well as our Face Book page."**_

"**Well, that certainly will be the topic of most teens for the next week! Are you sure you and you're band are going to be able to handle that?"**

"_**Truth is, I'm asking myself the same thing, but my band and I are all for it! However, we don't expect to reveal the winners until June 7 to give ourselves enough time to deal with our upcoming concert as well."**_

"**Ah, yes! The concert's on the 4th, right? Do you feel nervous on stage or does it come naturally?"**

"_**A bit of both really. I tend to be relatively nervous until the music starts, then I just kinda go with the music and let it numb me. It's almost like I just become me..." **_Yami's voice just trailed away as Yugi listened intently to the almost musical voice with a face of utter shock and awe._** "Sorry, odd I know, but it's the best way to describe it."**_

"**I'm sorry, but I don't quite understand."**

"_**That's fine. Not many understand. Heck, even my band don't understand what I'm rambling on about most of the time."**_

"I understand..." Yugi whispered as the interview ended and a new song came on


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note_

Evil: This story is originally YamiToMangaka's and all credit for the first chapters go to her. I do not in anyway claim credit for it, I just simply adopted it. For the next few days my sister Heart and I will be adding the first chapters YamiToMangaka wrote. Then we will start where she left off.

Heart: Hello! I will be taking over for Good for this project. *bows* Please take care of me and give us your feedback once everything is in order.

Evil: Disclaimer! We do not own YuGiOh or any of its characters.

_Chapter Two: Caution, Doubt, and School._

Yugi stepped out of the car and onto the cheep gavel that covered the ground in front of the school. "I'll see you later, Solomon-San!" Yugi called as she got out her bag.

Suddenly, Solomon's hand caught hers, "I've told you a hundred times, call me Jii-Chan!" he said as he mocked an annoyed voice but was obviously smiling through his words.

"Yes, Jii-Chan." Yugi replied in an equally fake-annoyed tone as she pulled the retractable guide staff she had in her bag and extended it to its full length. "See you later." she called again as she turned on her heels and started up the school steps, her staff tapping away at the stone slabs.

Solomon sighed bitterly as he watched the young girl walk into the school's main building before reluctantly re-starting the car and pulling out of the iron gates that surrounded the school. The old man lost himself in his thoughts once more as he began the twenty minute drive back to the mansion. 'That girl doesn't need this.' he stated in his mind as he picked up speed on the high way. 'Yugi deserves a life with loving parents and without the weight of her dead brother. I don't see how they can blame her, not for that. If only she could stop beating herself up over it, she might have a chance at a normal, happy life.' Solomon sighed again as he thought of the small blind girl he cared for. 'Atemu, why did this have to happen? What can I do?'

Yugi walked into the warm school building with ease as she shouldered her bag and headed down the maze that made up the halls. Her staff tapped along to the steady beat of "My Immortal" as she made her way through the building to her locker. Yugi stood in front of the tall blue door of the metal container that held her books as she waited patiently for her friend, Tristan.

Tristan was a rather odd boy who had been Yugi's friend since middle school and after Yugi had lost her sight, he had made it his job to protect her when he could. For instance, he commonly led her to her classes and helped her with her locker combination seeing as she couldn't see the numbers. The loud padding of some all too familiar footsteps met the girl's ears and a few moments later the girl was pulled into a hug.

"Hey Yugi, baby! How's things been?" asked Tristan as he released her and ran a hand through his ridiculously pointy brown hair, his brown eyes glowing with childish happiness.

Yugi let out a giggle as she poked the taller teen's stomach, "Not bad Tristan. Same old really."

The brunet rolled his eyes, "Oh, come on, Yugi. I know something must have happened, like the contest Millennium is holding." The older teen smirked as a light blush covered the girl's face.

"OK." the girl mumbled, "You win, that was...interesting. But I don't think I'll be entering the contest."

Tristan stared at his friend, horrified."What do you mean you're not entering?" he asked, outraged."You're, like, the best song writer I know, not to mention singer!"

Yugi blushed heavily, "I'm not that good, Tristan..."

Tristan quickly shoved his hand over her mouth, instantly silencing her."Don't you dare look down on yourself!" he yelled at her, not caring who else heard. "You are the best I know, you should use your gifts, not belittle them."

Yugi smiled but pushed the teen away a little, "I'm sorry, but you know I hate singing in front of people. You should know that better than anyone..."

Tristan cut her off again, "I know! But what if you entered this contest. They don't even have to see your face to see if it's good or not. Come on, what's the harm?"

Yugi smiled, "OK, I give! But you have to help me choose the song." Tristan punched the air as she said this, but soon was clutching his shin; Yugi had whacked it with her staff. "Now stop being an idiot and help me with my locker."

"I'm going to get you for that!" he grumbled as he started on the locker's combination.

"No you wont, you love me too much." Yugi let out a laugh when she only got a small grunt in response. The steady clicking of high heels hitting the laminate floor immediately wiped the smile off the girl's face. Yugi mumbled something unrecognizable, but before Tristan could ask, her saw what she was scared of. Tea Gardener, AKA the school slut.

Tea wasn't one of the nicest people in recorded history, in fact, of everyone in the school she was Yugi's least favorite person. Tea had shoulder length brown hair and bright blue eyes, she also wore the school uniform, but she had adjusted it first day. Yes, she wore the blazer, skirt and all but... more revealingly. Her blazer was almost always open, the collared shirt was undone to the extreme, only one button lower and her bra would have been completely visible, not that it wasn't already. Her skirt was too short, by far the shortest in the school, most would think a girl would like to hide her undergarments from all the horny teenage that happened to love going UP the stairs. Tea also wore at least six inch heels and enough make-up to repaint a wall, but despite all this, Yugi didn't hate her. No. What she hated about the woman/slut was the fact that she had a really nasty habit of picking on the only blind girl in the entire school, that and the fact that she wont shut up about, to quote her, "all the boys she's shagged".

"Hello, Yugi." A high pitched voice of the brunette screeched as she strutted over to the blind teen."How are you today?" Yugi could here the mocking in the older teen's voice, and she knew there was a catch, but she couldn't figure out what it was.

"I'm great, Tea. Why do you ask?" Yugi said as she put on the fake smile that was often shown to her parents. The blind girl quickly reached over and opened her locker before she ran her fingers over the spines of the books inside, looking for the things she would need for her next few classes. When Yugi had first lost her sight, Jaden, Solomon, Tristan and one of her other friends had all worked together to help her live a normal life by teaching her Braille and changing all of her favorite books to Braille so she could continue to enjoy herself. They had also gone the extra mile in getting her a specially designed laptop that had Braille and letters on the keys and could read back what she had written.

Tea smirked evilly, sending a shiver down the spine of the brunette boy and causing Yugi's skin to pickle with a worrying sensation."I just wanted to know how you felt about never seeing again." Tea smiled at the horrified look Tristan gave as he paled and looked at Yugi to see her tense up.

"You know, Tea," started Yugi, trying her best to stop herself from shaking, "I'm at peace with the fact that I will never see again. However, I will not stand here and be verbally abused by a tone deaf girl like you."

Tea had always been into performing arts, ever since she was a child, but no matter how much training she got, her voice was terrible, not that she knew. Tea had always believed that she was best, no matter how much people tried to tell her otherwise, and, although she was a talented dancer, she had no voice. But even so, the brunette refused to listen to peoples comments that she didn't like.

Tea stared at the small, tri-colored haired teen in utter shock. "E-Excuse me?"

Yugi smiled, "You're excused." she stated happily as she closed her locker and started to walk toward her first class. "You coming, Tristan?" Yugi called over his shoulder as her guide staff when on tapping along the tiled floor.

"R-Right!" called Tristan as he ran to catch up to his blind friend. "How did you do that?" he whispered as they were out of Tea's range of hearing, which was pretty small considering the storm she was cooking up over Yugi's comment. (Unfortunately, those dents in the wall were never fixed.)

Yugi just shrugged as she stopped before the door to their home room, and, like the millions of times before, Yugi reached over with incredible accuracy and grabbed the door-handle."Hi, Serenity!" called the young teen as she opened the door, taking both Tristan and the red head hiding behind the door by surprise.

Two pairs of brown eyes fell on Yugi as she walked into the room, as well as the eyes of just about every other student in the class. "How did you know where I was, or if it was me?" asked Serenity as she blew her fringe out of her face.

Yugi smiled, "Simple, I know you." and with that, the blind teen walked over to the back row of desks and sat down at the one farthest from the window. Tristan and Serenity just stared at their friend as she started to pull out her laptop. "Come on, Tristan! I need you to help me chose the song I'm going to send in."

Tristan let out a groan but quickly stalked over to the smaller teen and looked over her shoulder as she started to browse through the documents. "Damn, Yugi! How many songs have you written?" Yugi shrugged as she continues to scroll through the dozen or more songs. "Hey, wait!" called Tristan as one of the songs caught his eye, "Open "Hero" up for me." Yugi nodded and did as the taller teen asked. Tristan started to mutter under his breath as he read the lyrics to the song. "This is brilliant! This is the kind of thing Millennium sings so it should work! Let's got to the library after school and print this off!"

Yugi shook her head, "Sorry, Tristan. But I can't go today. I have to get home ASAP."

"What? Again?"

Yugi smiled, "Yeah. I have a lot of studying to do before we graduate."

Tristan glared at his friend, "That's over a month away!"

"Yeah, and?" she replied as she started typing in the address to the fan sight so she could email in her song. "Here we go. Tristan, would you send the song over in an email?"

"Sure." Tristan mumbled as he started typing in the address and copying and pasting the lyrics, that is until the laptop was slammed shut, just about catching his fingers. "What the Hell?" He looked up to meet the blue eyes of Tea Gardener. "What the Hell do you want?" he grumbled as he tried to pull the laptop from under her hand, but to no avail.

"I've come to pay back the little slut of a friend you have for the comment she made." Tea replied, a smirk covering, but soon the look changed to one of confusion as Yugi started sniggering and it grew from a small giggle to a full out laugh. "What's so funny?" demanded Tea as she stared at the blind girl.

Yugi almost instantly stopped laughing and took on a smirk, still trying to suppress her laughter. "Oh, nothing. I just find your nickname for me funny, after all, there is someone else in this room that is FAR more deserving of the title "Slut" that I am. I find the brunette with the too small of a uniform and the seven inch stilettos much more deserving of the name "School Slut" than I am, or am I wrong and all those boys you've slept with did not mean anything to you and are not nothing more than toys for you to enjoy and exploit?"

Tea stared at the small, blind girl in horror. 'How could she, a F***ing blind girl know how she looked or dressed?' Tea thought as she stared at the all-knowing smirk plastered on the girl's face. The sound of skin hitting skin echoed through the, by now, teen filled classroom as Yugi fell to the floor, her cheek red as Tea's hand finished it's ark. "You little Bitch! You dare say something like that to me? I am and always will be your superior; you will never be higher than me. You aren't worth my time!" she spat angrily before marching over to her desk.

Yugi sat up from the floor and sighed, 'I have enough of this at home, so why do I have to get this at school too?' she thought as a hand rested against her shoulder.

"Yugi! You OK?" asked Tristan as he helped his friend back onto her chair.

Yugi nodded as she was handed her staff by Serenity, "I'm fine. Just a little knocked up."

Just then, the teacher walked in, "OK, class, time to get sorted. Tristan Taylor, Serenity Wheeler! Please return to your seats!"

And so the class began. No one noticed the small drops of water dripping down the blind girl's cheeks as words drifted through her mind. _'You're not worth it! You're a murderer! You don't deserve to live! Useless! Killer! Cripple! Just go and die! Just go and Die!'_ Yugi sat in her chair, not wanting to show it, but she believed them. 'I'm a murderer.'


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note_

Heart: Hello Heart here! We finally have the first three chapters for you! I'm really surprised that you guys responded that quickly and I'm really happy to see that. Thanks for being dedicated to this project.

Evil: Reminder: We will be uploading the first eight chapters first then continue the project on our own. YamiToMangaka was kind enough to give us the adoption, so we ask that you guys be patient for the rest of the story to come.

Heart: Please give us your feedback! This is my first project so any advice or ideas for the plot of the story is appreciated.

Heart & Evil: We don't own YuGiOh!

_Chapter Three: Songs and Tears of Betrayal._

Not much later, lunch came around. Tristan, Yugi, and Serenity walked down the school halls toward the cafeteria, chatting about the contest as well as what had happened that morning.

"Are you sure you're OK, Yugi?" asked Tristan fourth time since the bell had rung.

"Yes! Tristan, I'm fine! Now can we please get something to eat?" said Yugi as her stomach let out another growl.

The brunette head up his hands in mock surrender, "OK, OK, but eat fast, there's somewhere I wanna go before next period." and with that, the three of them walked over to the overly crowded room.

After five minutes of record-breaking food eating, the three friends made their way across the school.

"Tristan, where are we?" asked Yugi asked as they walked through the many halls of the building.

"Almost there." called Tristan as they rounded one more corner and he shoved an unused classroom's door open."OK, we're here."

"And where is here?" asked Yugi as the tapping of her staff echoed off the empty walls.

"The perfect place to hear you sing..."

"That's it. I'm out." said Yugi as she started tapping her way to the exit. That is, until her staff is snatched from her hand. "Hey!"

"Is for horses. Come on! One song! What's it going to hurt?"

Yugi sighed, "OK, fine, but there's no music."

Tristan raised an eyebrow; he was getting extremely agitated with his friend's stubbornness. "Since when has the lack of music ever stopped you? You're an amazing singer, so just go!"

Yugi wanted to glare at the brunette, but knowing she couldn't, she let her mind wander, summing up all her feelings into one small bundle, and then finding the words to best describe them. Yugi let out a sigh as notes and chords flooded into her mind, symphonies and bells rang, but the only song that seemed to call to her was the song she had heard earlier that day._ "My Immortal"_ Yugi took a deep breath and started to sing, letting the soothing and comforting words flow off her tongue.

_"I'm so tired of being here,_

_Suppressed by all my childish fears._

_And if you have to leave,_

_I wish that you would just leave._

_'Cause your presences still lingerers here,_

_And it won't leave me alone!_

_These wounds won't seem to heal,_

_This pain is just too real,_

_There's just too much that time cannot erase._

_When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears._

_When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears._

_And I held your hand through all of these years,_

_But you still have... All of me."_

'Yes.' Yugi thought sadly as the song continued, her voice echoing off the empty walls. 'I feel like this too often, but how could I forget? What I did, what I didn't do. I don't know what to do, not without him. Atemu. Why did you have to leave?' her mind asked desperately as she entered the second verse.

_"You used to captivate me by your resonating light,_

_And now I'm bound by the life you left behind._

_Your face, it haunts my once pleasant dreams._

_You voice, it chased away all the sanity in me!_

_These wounds won't seem to heal,_

_This pain is just too real,_

_There's just too much that time cannot erase!_

_When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears._

_When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears._

_And I held your hand through all of these years,_

_But you still have... All of me."_

Yugi took a deep breath as the tempo of the song sped up and her word came out deeper and stronger than before as she poured her heart and soul into the song, letting it ring through the room like a bell.

_"I tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone,_

_But though you're still with me,_

_I've been alone all along!"_

Yugi was giving her voice so much power by now, that Serenity swore the glass rattled, but the sound was so beautiful, and so filled with untold emotions that she couldn't bear to tell her to quiet down; in fact, she wanted Yugi to sing louder! So loud that the whole school rung with the soothing, yet heartbreaking sound of this girls voice. Alas, the only ones to hear such a sound were the three of them in the room and the odd person who happened to pass by. Yugi continued her song, sing the chorus one more time with as many emotions and pain as she could.

_"When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears!_

_When you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears!_

_And I held your hand through all of these years,_

_But you still have... All of me..._

_Ohh... mmm,_

_Of... Me..."_

The small, blind girl's voice softened to hardly a whisper until, finally, her voice drifted into nothingness. Serenity couldn't describe the feelings that were plaguing her mind. Sadness, hope, longing, pain, love, and mourning were just a few of the many things she felt just from listening to a song. 'If I'm feeling like this then...' the red head's thoughts trailed off as her eyes landed on the small teen standing before them. Her eyes were closed, her breathing fast, yet soft, and, although not visible, there was a sense of relief drifting from the tri-colored haired teen as she stood there in utter silence, as if she had let go of everything that hurt and was letting it drift away. In the few seconds of stillness that had followed the song, neither of the girls heard the soft clicking of a phone being switched off.

"That was great, Yugi!" complemented Tristan as he handed the girl back her staff, "You really should sing at the graduations ceremony next month."

"No way!" Yugi yelled back, a heavy blush covering her cheeks. "There is no way I am EVER doing that!" she said firmly as the school bell rung, signaling the end of the lunch period. "Time for class." the small girl stated as the three of them wandered back to their classroom.

Finally, the end of school came and the mad rush of getting home for the weekend kicked in. The masses of students ran to their lockers as fast as they could, eager to get the night's partying and fun started as soon as possible. Tristan, Serenity and Yugi sat in their seats long after everyone had left, sending the email Tea had so rudely interrupted earlier that morning.

"And... Send." Said Tristan as he clicked the small button on the screen. "They should be on your doorstep in a few days time, considering how good this song is."

Yugi gave him a mock punch to his chest (Seeing as she couldn't see where his shoulder was.) "It's not that good, goofball!"

Tristan ignored her comment as he started packing up his bag for home, "Any plans for the weekend, girls?" he asked as he shoved his math book into the already overstuffed bag that was practically groaning in protest.

Serenity smiled and explained that she and her sister were going to go shopping for the day and how she loved her sibling time seeing as her sister worked a lot.

Yugi shrugged, "I've got no plans, just studying and maybe a bit of piano playing, nothing much." Yugi sighed as she also began packing up her bag. "Hey, Tristan, what time is it?"

"3:38, why?"

Yugi nearly dropped her bag, "W-What? Oh Shit!" Yugi grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder, "I'll see you guys later!" and with that, the flustered teen walked steadily out the door and into the main halls of the school. Within a few minutes, Yugi was in the car park, getting into the family vehicle while Solomon greeted her.

"Nice to see you finally made it." commented the old man as he let out a soft chuckle, "How was sch..." Solomon trailed off as her saw Yugi's cheek which was red and slightly bruised from when Tea had hit her, "What happened?" Solomon took hold of Yugi's chin, gently tilting it upwards so he could have a better look at the wound. Yugi shrugged it off, saying she didn't remember how she got it, but it did little to convince the old man. He kept pressing the issue for a while, but after ten minutes of a lack of answers, he gave up. The drive started feel awkward after that and both of them sat in silence, that is, until Yugi started humming to herself.

Slowly, the tune to _"Imaginary"_ filled the car as the girl grew more bold and started singing to the invisible music that was filling her head.

_"I linger in the doorway_

_Of alarm clock screaming_

_Monsters calling my name_

_Let me stay_

_Where the wind will whisper to me_

_Where the raindrops, as they're falling, tell a story_

_In my field of paper flowers_

_And candy clouds of lullaby_

_I lie inside myself for hours_

_And watch my purple sky fly over me_

_Don't say I'm out of touch_

_With this rampant chaos - your reality_

_I know well what lies beyond my sleeping refuge_

_The nightmare I built my own world to escape_

_In my field of paper flowers_

_And candy clouds of lullaby_

_I lie inside myself for hours_

_And watch my purple sky fly over me_

_Swallowed up in the sound of my screaming_

_Cannot cease for the fear of silent nights_

_Oh, how I long for the deep sleep dreaming_

_The goddess of imaginary light_

_In my field of paper flowers_

_And candy clouds of lullaby_

_I lie inside myself for hours_

_And watch my purple sky fly over me_

_Paper Flowers..."_

After Yugi stopped singing, she immediately felt better, just like she had when Tristan had gotten her to sing. 'Maybe I should sing a little more.'

"Well, that's new." stated Solomon as he pulled into the driveway of the Mutou Mansion, "I've never heard you singing without music before, it's nice."

Yugi blushed, "W-Well, I've been thinking of singing a bit more...just a little."

Solomon chuckled at the girl's uneasiness before getting out of the, opening the door for Yugi, and leading her inside. "I'll come and get you when dinner's ready." he stated as he lead her up the stairs to her room.

"OK." and with that, Solomon turned oh his heels and walked back down the hallway. Yugi was alone. The small, blind girl quickly changed her clothes, getting dressed, once again into the preplanned outfit from the staff. This time it was a dress, a little sun dress with a bow in front from what she had felt. Yugi quickly pulled on the shoes that went with the outfit and pulled her hair up into an untidy bun. After getting changed, Yugi began pulling out her laptop to get to work on her home work only to be stopped by the sound of VERY loud feet running down the hallway toward her room. "Its open." she called as the footsteps stopped outside her door.

"Not again!" moaned Jaden as he walked inside the room and shut the door.

Yugi giggled slightly as she returned to her home work, "What's up, Jay?"

"Nothing." he stated a little too quickly.

Yugi stopped her typing and turned in her seat to face Jaden. Despite the fact that she couldn't see, his unease was noticeable from a mile away. "What's wrong, Jay. You're acting more jumpy than usual."

"I-It's nothing." he stated as he let out a long sigh.

Yugi didn't miss the hesitance in his voice and she immediately got up form her chair and walked over to him, "Come on, Jay. You know you can tell me anything, right. We're siblings; we have to look out for each other."

"Step." mumbled Jaden as he sunk onto the bed.

It was true. Yugi and Jaden were not related by birth, but when Yugi's father remarried, Jaden was Anzu's son whom had lost his father in an accident.

"Step siblings or not, you're my brother and you can tell me anything." she said firmly. Jaden looked to the floor but said nothing. The gentle scuffing of feet against the carpet alerted Yugi that Solomon was on his way. Yugi sighed before turning to her brother, "Listen, Jiichan's on his way, but when I get back, I want you to tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong!" Jaden blurted out, "I just don't want you to laugh at me."

Yugi smiled, "I promise I won't laugh."

Just then, Solomon walked in, "Lady Yugi, your father wishes to see you."

Yugi smiled, "OK. I'll talk to you later, Jaden!" and with that, Solomon and Yugi walked out of the room and down the stairs to the living room where her father sat waiting for her.

"You may leave." Gozobouro Mutou barked at Solomon as they entered the room, "I wish to speak to my daughter alone."

Solomon bowed low and left the room, not wanting to stay around the harsh man that was his employer longer than he had too. But as he left, Solomon couldn't help but fear for the girl as she was forced to stay in the same room as the man commonly known as a tyrant.

"Sit down." commanded Gozobouro. Yugi sat. "It has come to my attention that you are now coming of age to start choosing a charier. However, I have another idea in mind..."

Yugi tensed up as she listened to her father's plan for her and she held back tears when he had finished. In Yugi's mind she did nothing but scream in outrage and anger, but on the outside, she could do nothing but sit and listen to choices being made for her life without her consent, and after the talk was over, there were only two words she was aloud to reply. No matter how much she despised it, no matter how much she wanted to shout and scream, "Yes, sir." were the only two words she uttered before leaving the room.

Yugi ran up the stairs, nearly tripping a few times, but she made it to her room and closed the door. Yugi fell on her bed and finally let go of the restraints that stopped the tears from falling. She lay on her bed and cried. 'That's all it took!' she yelled in her mind, 'Two words... Two words and I've given my life away.' Yugi lay on her pillow, not even noticing the fact that she had still yet to change or eat, but she didn't care. Yugi cried tears of utter betrayal and regret as she cried herself to sleep that night, not wanting to think about the upcoming morning and all the pain it would hold within its many hours.


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note_

Heart: Another chapter down! I'm so happy to see that some of you have already favorited the story! Currently, we are working on the continuation chapters so hopefully we'll be able to get them out soon!

Evil: …. We don't own YuGiOh… Though we wish too…..

Heart: Back to work sis! We need those chapters soon!

_Chapter Four: Relationships._

Yugi awoke to someone shaking her, "Yugi. Yugi, wake up!"

"What is it, Jaden?" she mumbled as she sat up, the events of yesterday still plaguing her mind.

Jaden's face became bright red, "I-I was wondering i-if I could talk to you now." he said almost sheepishly.

Yugi smiled, hiding the pain throbbing in her chest as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and gestured for him to sit down. When the boy had made himself comfortable, she turned to him, "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"U-Um... I was wondering... what a girl would like?" Jaden mumbled, blushing more than ever.

Yugi looked at him, confused, "What do you mean?"

Jaden shrugged and looked at the floor, "You know... What would you get f-for the g-girl you l-like?"

Yugi smiled, "AWWW! You like some..." Jaden quickly placed his hands over his sister's mouth, blushing redder than a tomato.

"Yes, I like someone." he hissed, "I just need some advice... You know?"

Yugi quickly nodded, "I get you, but I'm going to have to know about this girl, what are her interests, her hobbies, you know, the general stuff."

"D-Do I have to tell you?"

Yugi nodded, "If you want me to help you, I need to know who she is."

Jaden took a deep breath, "W-Well, her name is Chazz..."

"Chazz? Isn't that a guy's name?"

"Yeah, it is, but it's what her parents called her. Chazz Princeton, she's in my year. She... um... has black hair and black eyes and wears nothing but black."

"Sounds like a goth to me..."

"Yeah, that's what I thought at first, but she became my lab partner a few weeks ago, and I started to get to know her. She really likes dueling and she's really smart and she always sticks up for herself."

"She sounds pretty cool to me, so why do you need my help?" Yugi asked, not quite getting why he would need help with a girl he already knew.

"The thing is she won't talk to me. I say hi and smile and everything, but she hardly ever talks to me and when she does, it's usually an insult."

Yugi nodded, "I see, so it's like that." Yugi placed her chin in her hands as she spoke her thoughts, "Well, I'm not sure if it'll work..."

"Please! I just want to talk to her!" Jaden begged almost desperately.

Yugi smiled at her brother, "Just be you."

Jaden stared at her as if she'd gone nuts, "W-WHAT?"

Yugi looked down at Jaden and shook her head, "Listen, wouldn't you prefer for the girl you like to fall for you and not some front you put up when she's around? Think about it, let her get to know the real you, be happy, be funny, be yourself. Talk about things you like, not random things she likes that you have no knowledge about. If you don't understand something, ask her. There is no reason for you to pretend to be someone you're not when you go looking for someone to love you for who you are." Yugi waited for her brother to answer, but upon hearing nothing, she got worried, "Did that help, or..."

"Thanks, Yugi!" said Jaden as he smiled up at his blind sister, "That really helped!"

Yugi smiled, "Glad to hear it!"

Jaden quickly got up from where he had been sitting and took Yugi by surprise by hugging her, "Love you, sis!" and with that, Jaden left the room.

Yugi's simple faded along with the footsteps that echoed along the hall, "Glad I could help." she sighed as she went into the bathroom to get cleaned up for the day. About thirty minutes later, Yugi was back to doing her homework from the day before, but her mind was other places half the time that almost none of it was getting done. Over an hour later, Yugi sat back in her chair and let out a long sigh, 'This just isn't right. They should have told me about...' Yugi's thoughts were cut off by the doorbell. Listening intently, Yugi heard her father greet someone, two someones, and both voices were unfamiliar to her.

The heavy thud of feet falling on the stairs alerted Yugi that her father was on his way up. As quickly as she could, Yugi cleaned up a little, turned off her music and fixed her hair as much as she could. "Yugi!" The gruff voice came from behind the door, "You need to meet our guests, come out." it wasn't and option. Yugi walked out the door only to have her arm grabbed to be dragged down the stairs. "This is my daughter, Yugi." said Gozobouro as they entered the front entrance. "This is what we talked about last night." whispered the old man as he led her toward the two other people in the room.

Yugi bowed slightly when their walking came to a stop. "Um... Hello." she mumbled as she looked down.

"Hi." A friendly voice spoke from a person standing opposite the teen, causing her to look up sharply.

"Yugi, I would like you to meet your fiance, Duke Devlin." said Gozerburo's gruff voice, but Yugi hardly heard his tone, only the word fiance.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Yugi." came the same, cheerful voice.

"Um... same here." Yugi replied in utter confusion.

If Yugi could see, she would have gasped. The young man, no older than seventeen, who was talking with her was, by many girl's definitions, gorgeous. He was tall, had long black hair tied up in a ponytail, bottle green eyes and a smile that would make any girl swoon. Duke was also wearing a simple pair of dark blue pants and a collared white shirt with a navy blue jacket thrown loosely over top with black and white converse on his feet.

The man sitting beside him, on the other hand, was nothing pretty to look at. He was a tall man; he wore a gray, pinstriped suit with gray and balding hair, not as pleasant green eyes, and a hardened face from many years of an almost constant frown. The two men looked as different at two men could be, and yet, if anyone looked at them, you could easily see the similar characteristics.

"Yugi." barked her father, surprising her, "Would you like to show young Duke around the house while his father and I have a little chat." once again, it was not an option, but Yugi treated it like one.

"Of course, father." And with that, the young man by the name of Duke and Yugi walked down the hall toward the main house.

The two teens walked in silence except for Yugi showing Duke the rooms or other things. After a while, the tour was done and the two of them stood in the hallway awkwardly. "Um..." began Duke, hoping to break the silence and hopefully get a conversation going with his fiancé."Do you have anything you want to do?" he asked, still not sure how to go about this sudden meeting.

Yugi looked up to where the voice originated and smiled, "You're the guest, are you not?"

Duke laughed, "Yes, but I don't think it's appropriate to just walk around, doing as I please just because I'm a guest."

Yugi nodded, still unsure of what she should be doing. Yugi was starting to get nervous, and in getting nervous, she did the one thing that comforted her, she started singing, or rather, humming. The tune of _"Concrete Angel" _by Martina McBride almost instantly passed her lips before she could even notice. For just under a minute, Yugi hummed along to an unheard song as she started rocking her head slightly.

"I take it you like music." said Duke with an unseen smile, taking Yugi off guard.

Yugi's face turned a bright shade of red and instantly stopped humming, "U-Umm... you could say that... You do know of my... ah... disability, right?" The older teen gave a slight mumble signifying a yes. "Ever since I... I lost my sight, I've been addicted to music. It's one of the very few things that keep me sane to tell you the truth."

Duke stared at the girl, not knowing what to say, he had never thought she would share something so personal with him after knowing him for little more than an hour. Unknown to Duke, Yugi's arms were having the same tickly sensation that she commonly got and frowned, "Now, there's no need for you to stare at me, is there?"

Duke blinked, "How did you... never mind." he said, dropping the subject. "Do you play any instruments?... Oh.. Ah.. Ignore me." he said a little too quickly. 'I'm such an idiot!' he yelled in his mind, 'Of course she can't! She's blind.'

"Yeah, a few." said Yugi, completely unfazed by the question.

"Huh?"

"I know piano, guitar, a little flute and my singing isn't too bad, that's about it."

"But, how? You're blind."

Yugi smiled, "Just because I'm blind doesn't mean I can't learn. You know, it's true what they say, your other senses do get better when you lose one. I had really good hearing since I was born, but it only got stronger when I lost my sight, so I taught myself music 'cause every music teacher I went to say the same thing you just said."

Duke stared at his bride-to-be. "OK. I believe you. But I'm going to have to see this for myself."

Yugi smiled, "Suit yourself. Follow me." Yugi lead Duke down the hall back toward the stairs and down them. Yugi showed her fiancé toward the small library that was off the main sitting room where the voices of both fathers could be heard. After entering the library, Yugi quickly shut the door while explaining to Duke that she didn't want to disrupt the two men in the other room. After she had closed the door, she walked to the back of the library to another door, one that Duke had not been previously shown, a music room.

The small room was nothing but glass, as if it was built of the house long after it had been built, the floor as a beautiful gray and white marble while the only wall that connected this room to the rest of the house was also painted white. The room's main point was a large white grand piano sitting in the middle while along some of the walls were music stands and amps as well as three guitars hanging from hooks on the non-windowed wall.

"Pull up a seat." Yugi said as she gestured to the white leather love seat that was pressed up against the nearest glass wall. Duke walked over to the seat and got comfortable as Yugi walked over to the piano and fingered the keys gently as to not make any noise. "What song would you like me to play?" she asked as she sat down before the piano.

"I don't mind, the one you were humming would work fine." Yugi nodded and started to feel around for the keys she needed, "But before you start," started Duke, causing Yugi to look up sharply, "would you like to take off your glasses?"

Yugi smiled, and without a word, started to play the song, playing once through the chorus before starting on the actual song. Duke sat on the couch as the notes played through the room, filling it with the beautiful piano. He was a little hurt that she hadn't taken off the glasses like he had asked, but in the end, it didn't matter. Duke looked up and he saw Yugi, but he was surprised at what she was doing. She was leaning over the piano as if in a trance, and then a new sound filled the room, playing along with the piano, was her voice, hitting the notes that had him hanging on to her every word.

_"She walks to school with the lunch she packed_

_Nobody knows what she's holding back_

_Wearing the same dress she wore yesterday_

_She hides the bruises with the linen and lace, oh_

_The teacher wonders but she doesn't ask_

_It's hard to see the pain behind the mask_

_Bearing the burden of a secret storm_

_Sometimes she wishes she was never born_

_Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a stone_

_In a world that she can't rise above_

_But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place_

_Where she's loved concrete angel_

_Somebody cries in the middle of the night_

_The neighbors hear but they turn out the light_

_A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate_

_When morning comes it will be too late_

_Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a stone_

_In a world that she can't rise above_

_But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place_

_Where she's loved concrete angel_

_A statue stands in a shaded place_

_An angel girl with an upturned face_

_A name is written on a polished rock_

_A broken heart that the world forgot_

_Through the wind and the rain she stands hard as a stone_

_In a world that she can't rise above_

_But her dreams give her wings and she flies to a place_

_Where she's loved concrete angel"_

The sound of piano slowly died out, leaving the room once again in silence, that is until Duke spoke up. "Wow! That was amazing!" he stated as he started clapping, and with the echo in the room, it sounded like a thousand people.

Yugi blushed scarlet as she stood up from the piano, "It wasn't that good."

Duke shook his head, "Are you kidding me, of course it was! You must be the best musician I know!"

Yugi smiled up at the young man, "Thank you." Not long after, the two parents came in the room to find them chatting away on the love seat, not even noticing they had company. After an ear full from both parents for ignoring them, Duke and his father left the house, promising to be back soon. Yugi smiled and waved as the car drove off, only turning inside when she knew they had turned the corner. 'I think I'm going to like him.' she stated in her head as she walked up stairs to her bedroom to finish the home work that had once again been left until last minute. "Not again." she moaned as she sat down at her laptop to get to work, unknowing of the fact that thousands of people were staring at her in awe as she sang in the deserted classroom of Domino High.


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Note_

Heart: We don't own YuGiOh! Looks like we are ahead of schedule. Cool! Enjoy please!

Evil: She's a slave driver! Help me!

Heart: *covers her mouth* don't mind her just keep reading.

_Chapter Five: Me and My Band._

The smell of smoke plus the screeching sound of the fire alarm woke the annoyed teen early Sunday morning. 'Damn! Can't I get a minute's peace?' Yami thought angrily as he sat up. He was the last one in the bedroom, which didn't come as a surprise. Yami had stayed up late, looking through the lyrics that he and the band were getting by the thousand, or at least, that's how it felt. With a loud groan, the crimson eyed teen pulled himself from the warm bed and toward the shower. About twenty minutes later, Yami emerged, dressed in nothing but a crisp white towel, his tri-colored hair still sending water to drip down his back. The teen quickly dried himself as the fire alarm finally shut off, obviously, whatever fire his fellow band members had created was out and now there was yelling coming from the direction of the kitchen. With a sigh, Yami quickly dressed himself in a pair of gray sweat pants and a black T-shirt with florescent green writing that read, "I'm with stupid" and he pulled on his favorite black leather collar.

Yami stepped bare footed into the living room that was filled to the brim with letters, covering almost every one of the five black leather couches in paper. Yami looked up just in time to see the albino lovers break apart from what looked like a very heated make-out session. The girl, Ryou Kyusuki, had a heavy blush covering her cheeks, completely contrasting to her shoulder length white hair, normally pale skin, and brown eyes. Ryou was wearing a simple blue sun dress with a silver chain necklace and black sandals. "Um... Hey, Yami." Ryou had a bad habit of not kissing in front of Yami. It wasn't that she was embarrassed, it was because Yami was the only person in the band who didn't have someone and she didn't want to annoy him.

The man, Bakura Necromancy, was smirking devilishly as if to say, "Yeah, I'm so lucky!". Bakura had no problem with kissing (or more) in front of Yami, however, for his Ryou's sake, he didn't very often. Bakura looked a lot like Ryou, he also had white hair that reached down to his shoulders, however today it was in a low ponytail. He had brown eyes that were much sharper and more psychotic looking than Ryou's innocent, doe-like eyes. Bakura also had very tanned skin being from Egyptian heritage like Yami who's family came from Egypt before he was born. Bakura was wearing no shirt, but this was a common occurrence so Yami disregarded it. He was also wearing his black denim jeans and was, like Yami, bear footed. Again, a common occurrence.

Yami smirked at the couple, "No need to be modest, I'm just passing through." he said as he passed by them. Ryou's blush deepened, knowing they had been caught, while Bakura looked delighted and quickly pulled Ryou onto his lap and started making out again, much to the smaller teen's pleasure and displeasure. Yami shook his head as he made his way to the kitchen where the shouting was growing louder. "What did Marik do this time?" he asked as he stepped in the large kitchen/dining room that nobody used for eating unless they were standing.

Two platinum blonds looked up from their argument as Yami sat down at one of the bar stools around the peninsula of counter top that cut the room in half. The smaller of the couple, Malik Ishtar, looked at Yami with an exasperated glare. She had long blond hair that fell to her shoulders and purple eyes. Malik was wearing a simple lilac T-shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans. She had her arms crossed over her chest with a look that could make any man run for his life. Fortunately for Yami, this look was directed at her boyfriend who was looking rather sheepish. "Something stupid! That's what he did!" She shrieked, throwing her hands up in the air. "I don't know why I put up with him!", she started; talking like Marik wasn't in the room, as he would have preferred to be.

Yami looked to the taller of the two who had a face saying he would have happily loved to be able to melt into the floor. Marik Ishtar was very tall, taller than the rest of the band besides their manager. He also had blond hair, but his, although just as long, stuck up on end naturally, and with a bit of styling, he managed to make it more intentional rather than having him look like he had just shoved his finger in an electrical plug, which, knowing Marik, he probably had. Marik also had purple eyes and tan skin; he was wearing a pair of jeans and a button up white shirt left open. Although, Marik and Malik had the same last name, they weren't married, at least not yet. The two of them wanted to get married and Malik had changed her name in anticipation, but they decided to wait a little longer, but that didn't mean the promise wasn't there. Not that this promise was going to last with the way Malik was seething at Marik

Yami rolled his eyes as he picked out an apple from the fruit bowl, "What did he do now?"

Malik sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "He tried to cook bacon..."

"That's not so bad.", replied Yami as he took a bite from his apple.

Malik raised an eyebrow, "In the toaster? I don't think so."

Yami nearly spat out his apple. Trying hard not to choke, Yami swallowed and wiped his chin, "Seriously?"

The girl nodded before glaring at her boyfriend again. "What?", asked Marik as he tried to defend himself, "You do it with bread, why not with bacon?"

"BECAUSE IT'S COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!", screamed Malik.

"Just do what I do.", said Bakura as he and Ryou walked into the room, "Eat it raw."

Yami pressed two of his fingers to his temples and let out an exasperated sigh, "No, Bakura. That doesn't solve the problem either. He'd get food poisoning."

Bakura tilted his head to the side like a child, "What? Why? I do it all the time and it doesn't hurt me."

Yami rolled his eyes, "That's just you, Bakura. If anyone else tried it, they'd have a one way ticket to the hospital, and we don't need anymore hospital runs or Seto's going to ring my neck."

"Yes, I would.", came a cold voice from the door of the room. Five band members looked round to see the boyfriend of their other band member, Seto Kaiba. Seto was the manger of Millennium, he was the tallest and oldest of the bunch being twenty-two, while the rest only twenty. He had brown hair and ice-like blue eyes that almost never showed emotion (Except when his girlfriend was around). He was wearing his usual black collared shirt, black pants, and long white coat that always seemed to catch the wind (Even if there wasn't one) just right to make it almost stand by itself. Seto had his arm rapped around his girlfriend's waist as he glared at the rest of the band.

"Seto, don' be like that'." begged the blond girl next to him. Josephine Wheeler, commonly known as Joey seeing as she hated her name, was smiling at the rest of the band with her "I don't care as long as I have food" look. Joey had blond hair and honey brown eyes, she was also rather tall for a girl. While the rest of the girls were about five six, she was five foot ten, easily beating Yami in height and on par with Bakura. She was wearing a pair of denim shorts and a T-shirt with gold writing that read "I don't need roses to feel loved, chocolates would be fine."

Yami sighed as he stood up, "OK, guys. How many lyrics have you gone through?". Unfortunately, he already knew the answer.

"We were waiting for you." stated Bakura as he rapped his arm around Ryou's waist causing the girl to blush.

"OK, OK. I'll start on the emails if you guys work on the letters, we stop every hour to show what we like."

"Got it.", replied the rest of the band as they set to work. The seven of them left the kitchen and went back to the lounge to start sorting, filing, and reading. After an hour of reading, they got together and compared what they had found. So far nothing was jumping out at Yami, who was the main person to agree seeing as he would be the one singing the lyrics. After putting the ones that weren't too bad in a small pile to be re-read later, the band got back to their task, Seto leaving them to go take care of some kinks with the concert to be held in less than two weeks time. An hour later, they got together again. Still nothing. They went back to it, losing two members this time. Bakura and Marik decided that their time was better spent browsing YouTube rather than sifting through lyrics.

"Oh, cool!", exclaimed Bakura as they typed in the next video, this particular being one of skiing disasters. The two "Ouch"ed and "Oooo"ed as the falls played out, leaving men and women with either serious injuries or splitting headaches. The two of them laughed as they flicked their way through half a dozen of these clips from different sports; motorcycling, quad-biking, racing, and several others. After the two of them finally stopped watching people hurt themselves, they started looking around for their songs to see how well they had played in that recording. They started with their first album and slowly moved on to the second, enjoying baiting each other about their playing.

"What's that?", asked Marik as the song _"My Immortal"_ was typed in. The first link available was labeled _"My Immortal, Cover Without Music"_, and it had over a million hits. "What do they mean without music?"

Bakura shrugged and clicked the link, revealing a cheap video of a small girl dressed in a public school uniform, wearing sunglasses. The two listened as the girl's voice flooded through the speakers. Neither spoke throughout the song, not wanting to disrupt the beauty of the voice, and for the fact that they were speechless. Despite the fact that the two of them had heard the song too many times for comfort, it still made them sit still as the girl put as much emotion in as Yami did when he sang.

"We have got to show the rest of the band this!", yelled Marik as he proceeded to try and take the computer into the other room without unplugging it, or even considering it wasn't a laptop. After about ten minutes of struggling, the two gave up and went to go get the rest.

"Hey, guys! Guess what we found!", called Bakura as he entered back into the living room with Marik hot on his heels.

"You found out that you can't take a monitor into another room without unplugging it first.", stated Malik without looking up from the page she was reading.

"Ah... No, not that, but you have to see this clip!", replied Bakura.

Ryou looked up from the page she was reading looking mildly curious. It was rare for Bakura to act like this about... well anything! (Except Ryou herself.) "OK. Yami, let Bakura and Marik on your laptop will you?."

Yami didn't reply. He didn't even turn around. He only stared at the screen in front of him, reading the email. "Hey, Yami!", called Joey. Again, no reply. "YAMI!"

Suddenly, Yami snapped out of his daze and turned to his band. "What's with the yelling?"

Joey glared at him, "What do you mean, "What's with the yelling?" You were ignoring us, Dammit!"

Yami blinked, "I-I what?"

Joey rolled her eyes, "You were f*cking ignoring us! Did you not hear what Marik and Bakura said?"

"Ah... No, not really."

Bakura sighed, "We wanna show you guys a song. So scoot, Yami.", and with that, the albino pushed Yami off his chair and onto the floor

Yami got up from the sea of papers and sat down on one of the empty couches, waiting for the guys to put on the song. "Fine, but I NEED to show you something after!"

Yami was answered with a "Whatever.", from everyone as the music, or lack there of, started to play.

Yami's jaw dropped as the girl sang the song he had written over two years ago. By the quality of the video, it was taped on a phone, but that didn't hide the beauty. After the song was done, every one was in shock. Yami was the first to break the silence, "What is that girl's name?", he half asked, half demanded.

Bakura scrolled down the page, "It doesn't say. It only says, "This is my friend performing My Immortal by Millennium in an empty classroom. The funny thing is, this girl will not sing in front of people. She's too shy! LOL! I had to be very careful with the recording of this song.""

Yami put his head in his hands, "Damn! That really sucks!"

Joey looked over at Yami with surprise, "What's up, Yami? You're not normally like this about a song."

Yami looked up at his band with a disappointed smirk on his face, "Did you hear that, or was it just me?". The band shrugged. "This girl, even without SEEING her sing, I know she's a lot like me!"

"Weird and moody?", offered Bakura, who was rewarded for his comment with a pillow to the face.

"Anyway." started Yami, dragging all eyes back to him, "If I can't find out who this girl is, fine. But I need to show you these lyrics.". Yami got up from the couch and proceeded to push Bakura off the chair. Unfortunately, he knew it was coming and stood up before he could fall. The singer closed the YouTube window on his laptop and pulled up the emails. "Read this." he said as he got up from the chair.

The rest of the band gathered around the small screen and began reading. After a few minutes, they looked up at different times, but all had the same expression. They were shocked. "A-Are you sure you didn't write that?", asked Ryou as she sat back down on the couch in a daze.

Yami shook his head. "No, I didn't write that! But I gotta know who did!", Yami's eyes glazed over as he thought about who could have written that song. It was heart warming, powerful, and had a good message. 'Who the H*ll could have written it?', he thought angrily.

"OK.", said Joey, easily getting the attention of the rest of the group. "How 'bout some more reading!"

Everyone groaned, "Joey, there's no way ANY of these lyrics could be as good as those.", complained Yami as he leaned back in the chair.

The blond rolled her eyes, "Yes, I get tha', ya idiot! But we need to find the two runner-ups tha' you promised!"

Yami and the rest let out a loud groan before walking over to the various couches to begin to read the rest of the limitless lyrics. Yami when back to the laptop and quickly printed off the lyrics and read the name of the song's owner. 'Yugi Mutou, huh? I gotta meet you.'


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's Note_

Evil: We don't own YuGiOh or any of it's characters….. Yet. ;)

Heart: Please enjoy!

Chapter Six: Birthday Plans

(Friday, June 4:AKA Yugi's Birthday)

Yugi's jaw dropped to the floor, "YOU DID WHAT FOR MY BIRTHDAY?"

Tristan smirked at his friend's surprise, "We got you five tickets to Millennium's concert tonight. Me and Serenity are going, Jii-Chan will be coming as adult supervision, and Jaden's coming because he mostly paid for the tickets, and the last one is for you, seeing as it's your birthday."

Yugi continued to blindly stare at them through her sunglasses, "B-but you really didn't need to go that far! Just a CD would have worked."

Serenity smiled but shook her head, "No. You deserve to have some fun. Besides, I got us back-stage passes."

Now it was Tristan's turn to be shocked, "WHAT? When did you get those?"

Serenity smirked and held up her two fingers in a victory sign, "My sister's in the band."

The two teens' jaws hit the floor right along with several other classmates. "You're sister is what?" asked Tristan as he stared at his friend in disbelief.

Serenity took a step back and bowed low, "Serenity Wheeler, younger sister to the famous Joey Wheeler." In less than a minute, most of the class had tried to get their hands on Serenity, asking for favors and signed stuff from the band. Serenity, however, just sat down and brushed them off with, "Sorry. I only do favors for REAL friends."

Yugi couldn't help but smile as the teens began to protest against the last comment as the teacher walked in. "Settle down, class. I know everyone is excited about the concert tonight, but it's still half a day away, so please take your seats." And with that, the class began as usual, aside from a few groans and 'Muttered-under-their-breath' complaints about Serenity's unfairness, all of which Yugi herd and she had a couple choice words for them in exchange, not that she would say them out loud.

(After School)

The talk about Serenity being related to a Millennium band member spread through out the school so quickly, it made it hard for the three teens to leave the building at the end of the day. The three of them only just managed to get past the crowd to the car Solomon sat in, waiting to take them back to Yugi's house. The teens slid into the back and Solomon couldn't help but chuckled softly. "I see something big must have happened."

Tristan shook his head, "You could say that. Just Serenity telling the whole freaking school that she's related to someone famous. A fact she conveniently forgot to mention over the last week while we were setting up for Yugi's birthday."

Solomon laughed, "Oh, no. She told me and Master Jaden a few weeks ago. She just wanted it to be a surprise for you two." This was answered by a glare from Tristan and a small sigh from Yugi. "But in any case, do you both need to get ready for the concert?"

The two taller teens shook their heads, "Nah.", replied Tristan as he ran a hand through his spiky hair. "We made sure to have our clothes in our school bags so we wouldn't have to waist time." Yugi couldn't help but smile at the older teen's words.

'I can't believe that the four of them would work so hard just to make my birthday special...Oh SHIT!' Yugi turned her body toward the other two nervously, "Um, guys, what am I going to wear?" Yugi's skin prickled dangerously as the two teens gave evil smirks that could rival the psychotic lovers of Millennium.

"Don't worry about that, Yugi." soothed Serenity, her voice a little too dark for the blind teen's liking, "I have that all under control." As if to affirm her words, Serenity tapped the side pocket of her bag that jingled slightly, making Yugi shiver nervously. The red head noticed the slight shiver run up Yugi's spine and couldn't help herself. Leaning down, she whispered in the teen's ear, "Don't worry, it wont hurt if you don't struggle." There was no more talk over the ride home.

When the group finally made it to the house, the two older teens quickly rushed Yugi to her room and sat her down on her desk chair that had been placed by Tristan in the middle of the room. Serenity immediately took charge by sending Tristan to go get ready while she, as she put it, 'Sexy-ified Yugi' and had some 'Girl-ly time'. Tristan, not wanting to know the penalty for refusing, left instantly to go find Jaden and to get ready seeing as they only had a few hours in which to get ready, eat, drive there, get a good parking space, and get inside.

Serenity smiled to herself as she looked over Yugi before rummaging through her bag to pull out the various accessories she had brought for Yugi to use before she searched through the wardrobe for something suitable. Yugi, meanwhile, couldn't help but feel a little scared at the thought of being 'Sexy-ified'. She hadn't really ever bothered with make up and things like that in over five years, so now, the thought of Serenity having full rein of her wardrobe and hair style as well as other things did nothing but terrify her.

"Yugi! I found something." Called the red-head as she emerged from the walk in closet with said outfit. Yugi hesitantly took the clothing and started to change into them, getting stuck once or twice in the process. After getting changed, Serenity sat Yugi down in the chair and started tackling the tri-colored locks. After running a brush through it and staring at it for a good ten minutes, she started styling with all the sprays and gels that she had brought with her and then finishing off with a bit of black make up, not too much that it looked unnatural, but enough to look hot. When Serenity finally deemed Yugi ready, she got dressed herself, although, she used a little more make up on herself.

After what felt like days but was only just under two hours, the two girls were ready. "Hey, Tristan, you can come in now!" called Serenity as she fixed the last of her hair. Yugi listened as the door opened followed by three gasps as the boy's mouths dropped to the floor.

Serenity couldn't help but smirk at the look on their faces before she looked them up and down, surveying their clothing choice. Tristan was dressed in black jeans that were torn in some places, a black T-shirt with Millennium's name and logo on the front as well as a black leather jacket and a pair of black and white Converse, his hair in it's usual spiky fashion. Jaden, however, was dressed relatively normally, with black jeans, a plain black T-shirt and his usual ruby red and white jacket that was left undone, he also wore a pair of Converse, but red and black ones instead, he had also used some wash out dye on his hair so now he had the odd red streak in his brown hair that surprisingly suited him. Solomon was still dressed in his usual attire of a suit and jacket but he had told the others that he would dress that way before hand. Over all, Serenity couldn't complain about the looks of her companions.

Yugi shifted nervously under the three men's gaze as her skin prickled uncomfortably. Yugi didn't know what she was wearing or how she looked, in fact, she couldn't even get a word in as Serenity had dressed her up. All she knew was that her face felt heavy, she could hardly stand up, and her clothes were tight, extremely short, drafty, and she jingled with every step.

Jaden stood gob-smacked at the clothes the two girl's were wearing. Serenity was the first he had seen and had taken his breath away. She wore a simple white tank-top with a button down dark blue collared shirt that had been completely undone and tied in a knot across her stomach to emphasize her chest.(/AN/ And yes, he is blushing.) Serenity also wore a pair of really short denim shorts that were frayed at the edges and ripped black leggings underneath with knee high black high-heel boots. Her face was covered in make-up that flattered her to no end and a pair of large hoop earrings and a silver necklace with the band's logo on it, along with some silver arm bands. Serenity flashed Jaden a smile that had made him smile back, but he caught something out of the corner of his eye.

Tristan blushing.

Not many people knew about the unspoken attraction between the two friends and anyone who knew kept quiet about it. Yugi had found out over half a year ago, Jaden had known for years. He may not look it, but he was exceedingly smart, mostly in untold emotions. The young man had noticed the odd looks the two gave each other when the other wasn't looking, and when they were together, you could almost sense the electricity in the air. However, Jaden had never voice his thoughts about this to anyone. He had promised himself he wouldn't get involve unless he was asked to by either party, so he stayed quiet.

Jaden's eyes soon drifted to the other girl in the room and his eyes widened. He had never known his sister could look so, for lack of a better word, hot. 'Serenity seriously wasn't kidding when she said Yugi would be "sexy-ified".' he thought as he took in his sister's appearance. Yugi was wearing a simple black tank-top that had a cartoon skull and crossbones in white on the front. She wore a pair of tight hugging black skinny jeans that showed off her natural curves of her legs to perfection of which bottoms were tucked into a pair of black knee high boots that were held up with buckles rather than your usual zippers or laces. There were also chains hanging loosely from her neck, wrists and waist, so much that every time she even moved, a soft jingling would follow. Yugi wore light make-up that mostly focused on her eyes and lips, but seeing as she would be wearing her sunglasses again, only her lips would stand out. The blind girl's hair hadn't been left in it's usual pony-tail or bun, but it had been straightened till it hung loosely by her shoulders, with her golden bangs as well as a few strands of her purple-black hair braided, her bangs held out of her face with a small skull and cross-bones clip on either side of her face.

Jaden stared at his sister's appearance and said the first thing that came to his mind, "Wow! Yugi, you look awesome." Needless to say, Yugi was utterly surprised by the comment and flushed bright red all the way up to her hairline.

"T-Thanks, Jaden..." Yugi muttered almost inaudibly as she quickly waked over to her desk where she had set her bag when she had first come into the room and started rummaging through it only to pull out her retractable guide staff which was instantly pulled from her hand. "Hey! What the...?"

"Oh, no you don't." came Tristan's all knowing voice as he held on tightly to the small metal shaft. "You're going to forget all about this today." he stated as he held up the staff. "For the rest of the day, you are no longer Yugi Mutou the blind girl from class 3A, but Yugi Mutou the birthday girl and one of Millennium's biggest fans." Yugi couldn't help but laugh at this little speech as she walked forward and pulled the brunette into an unsuspected hug.

"Thanks, guys. You have no idea how much this means to me. I owe-!"

"You don't owe us anything, Yugi. This is your seventeenth, have fun with it!" stated Serenity as she waked over and joined in with the hug that she was missing out on, soon to be followed by Jaden. After the group hug, the five of them quickly got together whatever else they would need such as phone, money, keys, and in Serenity's case, spare make-up. After what seemed like hours, they arrived at the concert hall, but all Yugi could hear was a mass of noise and the only thing she had to keep herself from getting lost was Jaden's hand. Finally, after a lot of pushing and shoving and even a few curses on Tristan's part, they were stood about three meters from the stage, waiting for the show to start. Yugi could hardly contain her excitement as the crowd started screaming for the first of the bands to come on. After the first few acts, Yugi was enjoying listening to everything, from the screams of the fans to the music to Serenity pointing out every hot guy she saw with Tristan doing the same for all the girls, they may like each other, but that didn't mean they couldn't have fun.

The concert was half over already, but that didn't mean they were ready to stop. A small break was given, letting all of the people to get a breather and maybe get a drink to sooth their overused voices. But soon enough, the room was packed once again and the five person group couldn't help but be energetic about the second half. Another band started to play, their songs a little slower and more romance and love based. Yugi couldn't help but close her eyes and listen as the soft sound of guitars, keyboards and drums filled her ears. That is until...

"Jaden?"

Jaden's eyes widened as he turned around, still holding his sister's hand. There, about three meters away, was Chazz Princeton. Jaden fought the urge to blush as he grinned at his classmate, trying to act as normal as possible. "Hey, Chazz, fancy meeting you here!"

Yugi inwardly smirked, she could feel it. Someone in front of her had jealousy in their eyes. Chazz already liked Jaden. That's all there was to it, and to see him holding the hand of some girl at a concert probably wasn't the best of ideas. "Hey, Jaden, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" she asked as she tugged at his hand a little, silently asking him to move forward with her. Yugi held her hand out like she wanted to shake the girl's hand, but the contact never came.

"I'm Chazz, and Jaden is not my friend, he's my classmate. Now, what's your name, or do you just like to be called mister rich boy's girl?"

Yugi smiled, "Oh, were not dating." The jealous looks stopped prickling against her skin and were replaced by confusion. "I'm his sister."

Chazz's eyes widened, "B-But you look nothing alike!"

Yugi sighed, "Yes, well, we're step siblings, his mom married my dad about nine years ago." Jaden nodded at this comment, keeping his eyes locked on the girl before them, a smile on his face.

Chazz let the smallest amounts of a blush cover her cheeks, "B-But that still doesn't explain why you're holding hands, even I don't do that anymore and I'm a girl!"

Yugi's smile disappeared and was replaced with something that was probably meant to be a pained expression, except you couldn't see her eyes. "Because," she started as she pulled off her sunglasses only to hear a gasp from the girl in front of her and feel a reassuring squeeze of her hand from Jaden. "I've been blind for over five years." Yugi smiled. "Jaden is lending me a hand seeing as I can't see anything."

The Gothic looking girl said nothing as she stared at the long, thin scar that stretched over the girl's eyes. "I-I see..."

Yugi smirked as she put her glasses back on before she took a step forward, letting go of Jaden's hand as she did. "Hey, Chazz..." Yugi leaned down and whispered something in the teen's ear for a moment before the pale teens face lit up in a blush making Yugi laugh. Yugi stepped away with a smile, "Hey, Serenity, come over here for a second." Serenity came at the call, letting Yugi take her hand as the shorter teen reached out for it. "Hey, Chazz, why don't you spend the rest of the concert with Jaden and the rest of us, because by the sound of things, you here on your own."

"Ah.. I-I don't know..."

"Aww, come on, don't worry, we don't bite." whined Yugi, making the rest of her companions stare at her as if she was crazy. "If you want, you can stay with Jaden, if you'd feel more comfortable."

Yugi didn't give enough time for the girl to reply before she had turned around and was walking back to the rest of the group with a huge grin on her face, leaving Jaden and Chazz blushing like tomatoes. "What did you say to her?" asked Serenity as they reached the majority of their group.

Yugi grinned and rubbed the back of her neck nervously, "I just asked if she liked Jaden, that's all."

Suddenly, the crowd started to cheer, signifying the end of the band's performance, only for them to intensify as a person walked on stage and stalked over to the front mic with a guitar in hand. A smirk lit up the young man's face as his crimson eyes racked over the screaming crowd. Body clad in nothing but leather and chains, with a screaming crowd at his feet, Yami Sennen laughed into the mic, "HELLO, DOMINO CITY!"


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's Note:_

Heart: Hello again! Sorry for the delay, but recently due to room renovations my computer had to be removed and unplugged for a bit. T~T

Evil: We finally hooked them up again and typed up part of the new chapter which will be coming out soon. XD

Heart: Yes! We are almost done with it and hope it'll be complete before the end of this week! So here it is! Chapter 7!

Evil: *coughs* WE DON"T OWN YUGIOH *cough cough*

_Chapter Seven: Millennium!_

"HELLO, DOMINO CITY!" he yelled as the screams grew louder. Yami smiled as he heard shuffling behind him, meaning the rest of his band was ready to go. "How are you all doing tonight?" he said into the mic which was responded with various calls of 'I love you!' and 'Marry me!' and other such cries. The crimson eyed man chuckled, "Thanks for blowing out my eardrums!"

The crowd laughed at the comment as the rest of the lights came on, on stage that had shut off after the last act. Standing next to their various instruments was the rest of the members of Millennium. Bakura was holding a pitch black electric guitar dressed in nothing but ripped black jeans and a long black trench coat with a few silver chains here and there. Ryou was dressed in a simple pair of denim shorts and a black tank top with a few bracelets to add to the look and was standing behind a keyboard waiting to play. Marik was sitting behind the drum set clad in nothing but a pair of leather pants with the word Millennium painted messily on his chest in gold paint. Malik was standing not far from Ryou with a dark purple electric violin grasped firmly in her hand. She was wearing a pair of black leather pants and a dark purple tank top that stopped half way down her stomach with plenty of chains wrapped around her waist, ankles and wrists. Joey was in a pair of black denim shorts that barely reached her mid thigh and a black T-shirt with the band's logo on it as she held an electric bass guitar in her grasp. Yami grinned at the crowd clad in nothing but leather. A black leather tank top hugged his chest while he wore a pair of black leather pants and dozens of chains were dotted around his body as he held onto his electric guitar.

Yami chuckled as the wall of screams hit them again. "Hey, Yami!" called Bakura from where he was standing as he pulled the strap to his electric guitar over his head, "Why don't we get this show on the road!" Yami nodded and Bakura grinned like a maniac before Joey started up the intro to their first song with her bass guitar. Bakura soon joined the blond girl with his own guitar with Marik coming in a few moments later. Yami's own guitar mixed with mass of sound that was filling the hall before he stepped closer to the mic stand and started to sing with Bakura doing back up.

"I can't escape this hell

So many times I've tried

But I'm still caged inside

Somebody get me through this nightmare

I can't control myself

So what if you can see the darkest side of me

No one will ever change this animal I have become

Help me believe it's not the real me

Somebody help me tame this animal!

This animal, this animal

I can't escape myself

So many times I've lied

But there's still rage inside

Somebody get me through this nightmare

I can't control myself

So what if you can see the darkest side of me

No one will ever change this animal I have become

Help me believe it's not the real me

Somebody help me tame this animal I have become

Help me believe it's not the real me

Somebody help me tame this animal

Somebody help me through this nightmare

I can't control myself

Somebody wake me from this nightmare

I can't escape this hell

This animal, this animal

This animal, this animal

This animal, this animal

This animal

So what if you can see the darkest side of me

No one will ever change this animal I have become

Help me believe it's not the real me

Somebody help me tame this animal I have become

Help me believe it's not the real me

Somebody help me tame this animal!

This animal I have become!"

Slowly, the music died away which quickly turned into the next song as Bakura started to play the intro with Ryou picked up with the piano and Marik started up the beat. Malik soon picked up on the music the rest were playing and joined in. Soon, Yami and Bakura entered once again, bringing up the volume of the song as the two started to sing along to the words Yami had written years before.

"In this farewell

There's no blood

There's no alibi

'Cause I've drawn regret

From the truth

Of a thousand lies

So let mercy come

And wash away

What I've done

I'll face myself

To cross out what I've become

Erase myself

And let go of what I've done

Put to rest

What you thought of me

While I clean this slate

With the hands of uncertainty

So let mercy come

And wash away

What I've done

I'll face myself

To cross out what I've become

Erase myself

And let go of what I've done

For what I've done

I start again

And whatever pain may come

Today this ends

I'm forgiving what I've done!

I'll face myself

To cross out what I've become

Erase myself

And let go of what I've done

For what I've done

What I've done

Forgiving what I've done!"

The crowd screamed again as the music came to a close and Yugi couldn't help but scream along with them. It was amazing for her, she had never done anything like this, and yet it almost seemed natural. More songs played and again there was screaming. It was a wonder anyone could talk after a concert.

Yugi listened in awe as the music continued with various songs from their last few years of being a band, such as "Going Under", "Time of Dying", "Whispers in the Dark", and a few others.

"This is amazing!" yelled Tristan over the music to Serenity as the band continued to play. Yugi silently agreed as she let her eyes close and the music just washed around her, making her feel like she was in a whole different world.

Yami cleared his throat and smiled down at the crowd, "I hate to say this, but our time is almost up." This comment was met by an array of shouts and screams in protest, making the musician laugh. "But who said we had to leave now?" More shouts. "Now it's time for our last song for the night."

Yugi cheered right along with the rest of the crowd as Ryou started to play the piano and Malik started up her violin. Yami took a deep breath and started to sing as Yugi sang along with him, enjoying the beautiful sound of his voice and hers combining together along with the hundreds of others who were also singing along with the well known tune.

"I'm so tired of being here

Suppressed by all my childish fears

And if you have to leave

I wish that you would just leave

Your presence still lingers here

And it won't leave me alone

These wounds won't seem to heal

This pain is just too real

There's just too much that time cannot erase

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears

When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears

And I held your hand through all of these years

But you still have

All of me

You used to captivate me

By your resonating light

Now I'm bound by the life you left behind

Your face it haunts

My once pleasant dreams

Your voice it chased away

All the sanity in me

These wounds won't seem to heal

This pain is just too real

There's just too much that time cannot erase

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears

When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears

And I held your hand through all of these years

But you still have

All of me

I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone

But though you're still with me

I've been alone all along

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears

When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears

And I held your hand through all of these years

But you still have

All of me"

Yugi clapped and cheered right along with the rest as Yami and his band slowly stopped playing, only to join in with shouts for an encore. Yami looked down at the crowd with a devious smile as Ryou walked over to the mic, pushing Yami out of the way, "Thanks for joining us tonight! See you all next time!" and with that, the young white haired girl grabbed Yami and practically dragged Yami off stage.

Bakura chuckled into the mic darkly, "Well, you heard the woman." he started, speaking to the rest of the band members rather than the audience, "Let's get moving. I don't want my ass kicked." Yugi and the others laughed right along with the rest of the fans as the rest of the band walked off stage, leaving everyone in the crowd wanting more.

"Come on, lets get going, Yugi!" called Tristan as he pointed toward the door of the hall. "We don't wanna be late."

"Should I take you to Jaden?" Asked Serenity as she pulled her blind friend close enough that she could hear, "We don't want to hang around too late."

Yugi shook her head. "Let's give him a minute. Then we'll go find him."

Tristan, having heard what Yugi had said, looked at his friend with a puzzled expression, but said nothing as he, Jii-Chan, Serenity, and Yugi all stood around as crowds of people walked past them.

"YUGI!" cried a voice from the flocks of people, making everyone in the group except for Yugi herself to jump.

"What's up, Jaden?" she asked as the panting brunette ran up beside her and grabbed hold of her hand.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he exclaimed as he bounced slightly on the balls of his feet and a slight blush decorated his cheeks. "Thank you so much!"

Yugi couldn't help but smile, "Things go well with Chazz?"

"She kissed me!" he cried without even bothering to hide his grin. "It wasn't on the lips or anything, but she KISSED me! She even asked if she could round to our house tomorrow to hang out!"

"Wait, seriously?" asked Tristan as he stared wide eyed at the boy. "You're kidding. The brat can get a girl and I can't?"

Serenity shrugged, "He's a natural charmer I suppose."

Tristan glared at Serenity for a second and opened his mouth to retaliate, but he was cut off by Jii-Chan clearing his throat. "Shall we get a move on? I certainly don't plan on standing here all night."

Yugi smiled, "I know what you mean, Jii-Chan." she commented softly as she tugged gently on Serenity's hand, "Mind showing us where we need to go?"

Serenity grinned, "Sure, follow me!"

Surprisingly enough, Serenity lead the group back to the car park, explaining that, seeing as the band would be tired, they were going to visit them at their home rather than backstage like you normally would. Yugi instantly became nervous about the whole thing. Sure, she wanted to meet the man behind the voice that she loved so much, but what if they found out about her... disability. 'Please don't let them notice.' she prayed in her head as she sat in the back seat in between Jaden and Tristan as Serenity gave directions to Jii-Chan.

Not long later, the car pulled to a stop and the group quickly stepped out, leaving the boys to gasp in awe at the size of the building. "Welcome to the Kaiba Mansion." called Serenity as she took a hold of Yugi's arm and started to walk up the drive toward the large oak door while describing the scene to Yugi who was trembling with nerves. Pretty soon, the boys caught up with the other two as they approached the door and Serenity knocked on it like she didn't have a care in the world.

As they waited for someone to let them in, Yugi couldn't shake her unease. She really wanted to meet the band known as Millennium, but she didn't know how they would react to the fact she was blind. Would they turn her away or something? She knew she was being paranoid, but the feeling wouldn't leave.

Suddenly, the front door opened, making Yugi jump a little having not been paying attention that was going on around her. "Yo, Mokuba!" greeted Serenity as she smiled down at the young man standing in the doorway as he rubbed his eyes sleepily.

"Hey, Serenity. You here to see the guys?" asked the boy called Mokuba as he stifled a yawn.

Serenity laughed, "Yep. I've got some fans here to meet them." Mokuba nodded sleepily as he stood to the side and let them in. Mokuba slowly started to walk toward a set of stairs and sleepily began to trudge up them, "Hey, don't worry about seeing us up. They already know we're coming. Just go curl up on the couch again, okay." Mokuba looked up at Serenity for a second before he nodded and started to descend the stairs again, not even bothering to say goodbye to his guests as he did. "Don't mind him." commented the redhead as she continued to climb the stairs with Yugi hanging onto her arm. "He's not much of an evening person. He has a bad habit of falling asleep on the couch all the time so the rest just leave him to it."

Yugi didn't even listen. She was too busy worrying about meeting her favorite band of all time. "Hey, guys?" Everyone quickly looked at the small blind girl, making her feel even smaller. "Um... do you think... we could not tell them about... about my eyes... okay?"

The whole group stared at her as if she had gone nuts. "W-What do you mean, Yugi?" Tristan practically screamed as they continued to trudge up the stairs only to follow Serenity down a long hallway. "You can't seriously be thinking that they won't notice."

Yugi shrugged softly as she clung tightly to Serenity's arm, "I know, but I'll only ever speak to them for a night and then they'll probably never see me again, so what does it matter what they think?"

Jaden sighed, "I don't really know, sis. I mean, what if you do see them again?"

Yugi shook her head. "Please. Just don't say anything. Okay?"

Tristan shrugged, "Fine. But I won't keep quiet if asked, alright."

Yugi smiled softly, "Thank you."

Serenity remained silent as she continued to lead her friends through the mansion, taking them down hallways and up another two staircases until they reached the fourth floor.

"Damn, they should really build an elevator in this joint." muttered Tristan as he continued to climb the stairs behind the rest of the group.

"Actually, there is one." commented Serenity as she smiled down at her friend, "But it's reserved mainly for the band when they come and go. If guests take the stairs, they have a heads up from security just in case they need to provide some crowd control."

"Ah, that makes sense." commented Jii-Chan as he continued to climb with a smile on his face.

"Ah, we're here." cried Jaden happily as they stopped in front of the door at the top of the stairs. "Do we knock or..." Jaden didn't get to finish his sentence as the door was pulled open from the inside, revealing the tall blonde that was Joey Wheeler.

"SERENITY!" cried the musician as she launched herself at her sister, making Yugi let go in surprise. "Welcome back! Did you enjoy the concert?" Joey asked as she pulled away from the smaller girl.

Serenity smiled up at her sister, "Yeah, it was great! And thanks so much for getting the guys to let my friends come over!"

Joey waved off the girl's thanks, "Don't worry about it. Just don't break anything; Seto wouldn't forgive you if you do."

Serenity glanced behind her at both Tristan and Jaden who were looking sheepish at the comment, "You two had better be on your best behavior."

"Got it!" the two replied quickly with identical grins that practically screamed trouble.

Yugi sighed, "Jaden, be good, okay." she muttered to her brother with a sigh as Joey's eyes fell on her making her skin prickle again.

"So, you must be Yugi, right?" the blonde asked with a smile. Yugi nodded slowly with a small smile of her own. "So you're the amazing birthday girl Ren has been telling me about for the last week. I have to say, it's nice to finally meet you!"

Yugi smiled shyly with a nod as if to say "You too."

Joey continued to grin at the small group. "Well, I should probably let you in now. You don't want to be standing in the doorway all night do you?" And with that Joey happily turned and walked inside leaving the rest to only follow.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Author's Note:**_

Heart: Bum, bum, BUM! Tada! A new chapter for Sightless Music! It won't be long till another comes! (I hope)

Evil: Yugi meets Yami? Will he recognize her? What will become of her song! Will Kaiba ever get rid of that stick up his ass?

Heart: Aren't you milking it just a bit too much? (Note: 'milking it' means over exaggerating) And a bit rude?

Evil: …. Well he is uptight.

Heart: No comment. Anyways! We don't own YuGiOh!

_**Chapter Eight: Yami, meet Yugi!**_

Yugi resisted the urge to run as Serenity quickly grabbed a hold of her hand once again and began to lead her inside the apartment-like fourth story of the Kaiba Mansion. The six walked down a small hallway that was decorated in various posters of the band itself while the walls were a pure white and the carpet blood red.

"Hey, Joey, is it them?" called a voice at the end of the hall making Yugi jump slightly at the suddenness of the noise.

Joey grinned as she grabbed Serenity's other hand and dragged her toward the voice a little faster, in turn making Yugi stumble slightly as she tried to keep up. "Yeah, and I gotta say the birthday girl is pretty cute!"

Yugi flushed as red as the carpet at the blonde's comment. Did the entire band know it was her birthday? The six of them quickly walked into a large sitting room that was literally covered in paper. There were letters covering just about every surface, even the large grand piano that sat in the far corner of the room. The room was mostly quiet except for the odd strumming of a guitar coming from another room.

"Nice to see you again, Serenity." called a voice from one of the couches as Seto Kaiba waved slightly at his girlfriend's sister before getting to his feet. "Sorry about the mess, but thanks to Malik's "Brilliant idea" we have to read a million and one songs so we're a little pressed for space."

"Hey!" called Malik from another room just off the main room with its door slightly ajar, "I thought it was a good idea at the time. Blame Yami for going through with it!"

Kaiba waved off the comment, "In any case, welcome."

Serenity beamed at the taller man before she quickly dragged Yugi out from behind her with a grin. "Thanks, Seto. Anyway, I would like you to meet Yugi, the birthday girl."

Seto glanced at Yugi for a second, making her skin prickle with a feeling that almost felt like pity. The blind girl shifted nervously under the gaze, but as it started to get uncomfortable, it was gone and replaced with a much warmer feeling. "Well, I have to say, Serenity wasn't kidding when she said you were small." Yugi blushed rapidly as she hid a little more behind Serenity who was giggling slightly at the comment.

"Who's small?" asked a new voice as one of the doors leading off the main room was pulled open to reveal Bakura and Marik, both still dressed in the outfit they had been wearing on stage. Suddenly, they caught sight of Yugi and their eyes widened, "NO WAY!" screamed Bakura as both he and Marik literally jumped over the couches and ran over to the terrified girl. "Wow, she's tiny!" the guitarists exclaimed as he bent down to take a good look at the girl before he glanced up at Serenity, "Are you sure she's sixteen?"

Marik nodded in agreement with Bakura's comment, "Yeah, she's microscopic!" Bakura, Joey, Serenity and Seto all stared at him with awe. "What? I know big words too, you know!"

"I-I'm seventeen..." muttered Yugi as her blush continued to darken."And I-I'm not that small..."

Bakura raised an eyebrow with a feral grin and straightened up to his full height, "Your head isn't even CLOSE to my shoulders, kid. You're miniature."

Marik shook his head softly, "Damn, and here I thought Yami was a midget!"

Bakura grinned, "Do you mean when he's barefooted or when he has his high heeled boots on?"

"He wears high heels?" asked Tristan with an evil smirk as if to say, "Watch out, people, I have blackmail material!"

Both Bakura and Marik glanced at Tristan for a second, "Who are you, pointy head?" they asked simultaneously, making Jaden, Jii-Chan and Serenity burst into hysterical laughter.

Tristan's eyes widened, "P-Pointy head? YOU JERKS! You'll-?"

Tristan's threat was instantly cut off as he was elbowed harshly in his stomach, "Shut up, would you." growled Serenity as she tightened her grasp on Yugi's hand, "We don't need you yelling your ass off right now, so behave already!"

Tristan couldn't help but shrink back a little at the tone of the girl's voice before he bowed his head slightly, "S-Sorry..."

Marik smirked and high-fived Bakura who was also looking rather triumphant, "Ha! I can't believe you got beat by a girl! You would never see me bowing my head to anyone!"

"Is that so?" asked a voice from behind the drummer that literally made his face drop and go deathly white so fast that the rest of the group thought he was going to faint.

Marik swung around so quickly that he fell to the floor, but he didn't even notice as he stared up at a glaring Malik who looked ready to beat the crap out of her boyfriend/fiancée. "M-Malik?"

"Yes, hunny?" she asked in a strained tone as she continued to darkly smirk at her boyfriend.

Marik immediately broke out into a cold sweat at the sound of the girl's voice. "Um... Should I start running?"

Malik's face broke into a too sweet of a smile that literally made Marik jump to his feet. "Good idea." And with that, both platinum blondes took off past the group of newcomers, through the hallway, and down the stairs, leaving the rest to just stare after them in a daze.

Joey sighed as she walked over to Seto with a slight frown on her face, "You'd think he would have learned by now to keep his mouth shut. But I guess some idiots never learn."

Seto chuckled softly before he turned to Bakura who was still staring at the doorway where the blondes had disappeared through. "Hey, Albino!" The white haired man glanced at his manager with a frown as if to say, "What did you just call me?" but the brunette didn't bother registering it. "Why don't you go and drag Ryou and Yami out here already. Just because we're home doesn't mean we can be completely anti social with our guests."

Bakura sighed, "Ryou I can handle. Yami, however, not a chance. You and I both know that he's not going to do anything until that bloody song is done!"

Seto pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation, "I do know but that doesn't mean he can completely ignore everything going on around him."

Bakura grumbled under his breath, not even noticing as Yugi blushed heavily. "Fine, I'll go, but no promises."

Seto gave a small nod before the guitarist turned and walked into the room that Malik had previously left. "Well then," he said as he turned to the group as his arm wrapped itself around Joey's waist, "Shall we have a seat?"

Pretty soon, the group were sat comfortably on three of the five black leather couches with piles of paper at their feet as well as on the coffee table that sat in the middle of the circle of seating. "So, did everyone like the concert?" questioned Joey as she snuggled into Seto's side on the couch that they occupied with a small smile, "I've heard how much Ren liked it, but I didn't get to ask the rest of you." The girl's brown eyes gazed around the room at her guests. Tristan was sat on the couch next to Joey and Seto's with his feet propped up on one of the very few spaces on the table that wasn't covered in paper. Solomon was sat on the same couch as the brunette and was glaring at the teen for his obvious disrespect but could say nothing about it. On the next couch over sat Jaden, Serenity, and Yugi, with the small birthday girl sitting in between her brother and friend looking nervous and hunched over.

"It was absolutely AMAZING!" exclaimed Jaden as he practically bounced in his seat. "I've never felt such a rush just by listening to music! You guys are amazing!"

Tristan rolled his eyes, "Can't you say anything other than 'Amazing'?"

Jaden frowned (Pouted) and crossed his arms over his chest, "Hey! It's the best word I can think of to describe them, pointy head!"

Yugi sighed aloud as the two started to bicker and call names, but all she was doing was grip Serenity's hand for dear life listen to the guitar from the other room.

"Would you shut your traps already!" growled Bakura as he walked back into the room with a slightly flustered Ryou on his arm, "Seriously, it's amazing that Ren can put up with you two!"

Serenity rolled her eyes as Ryou took a seat on one of the empty couches. "Please, you're no picnic either, Bakura. Some of the arguments you get into with Marik can get pretty loud too." The white haired man only shrugged, placed a soft kiss on Ryou's cheek, making her blush heavily, before he walked back out of the room through another door.

Yugi rolled her eyes as she leaned back on the couch and tapped her fingers nervously against her leg. She was started to get a little unnerved by everything that had been happening seeing as she had caused Marik and Malik to fight, Bakura to get angry and for the lead singer, Yami, to completely ignore her. Tonight seriously wasn't her night.

"SHUT UP AND GET OUT!" screamed a voice that made everyone jump as the sound of a heavy object hitting a wall followed. A second later, Bakura ran out of the room he had been in and slammed the door behind him.

"I swear that guy PMSs like a high school bitch!" hissed the albino as he flopped on the couch next to Ryou and pulled her into his lap.

Seto sighed, "What did he throw this time?"

Bakura growled, "A freaking song book! Doesn't he know how much those hurt?"

"That idiot..." muttered the brunette under his breath as he untangled himself from Joey and stalked over to the room the albino had just vacated and opened the door.

Bakura smirked triumphantly as he snuggled down with Ryou, "That idiot is going to get whipped..." Before any of the guests could ask what he had meant by that he continued, "Just watch this."

Sure enough, not long after the door shut behind him, Seto emerged half-leading, half-dragging the main singer for the band who had a rather irritated look on his face. "You know I don't like it when you do that..." the crimson eyed man growled as he sat down on the armrest of the couch which Joey and now Kaiba were sat.

Seto glanced at the pouting singer with a look of innocence, "What? Drag you out of your hole?" The glare the brunette got answered his question. "You need a little more of a life than playing a concert then locking yourself in a room. It's bad for your health."

Yami rolled his eyes before he glanced over at Serenity, Jaden, and Yugi. "Hi." he muttered as he raised a hand in a sort of wave. But, a second later, he crashed to the floor via a harsh whack to the back of the head from Joey. Fast as lightning, he jump back to his feet, his cheeks slightly flushed from the half silent sniggers from the rest of the room. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?"

The blonde woman glared at him before pointing directly at Yugi, who stopped her silent laughter at the harsh prickling of her skin. "It's the kid's birthday and you're acting like an ass, Yami. That's what it was for!"

Yami blinked for a second as he stared at the young girl sitting on the couch across the table from him before he quickly turned back to the blonde with a harsh glare. "Well, if someone had told me it was her birthday, I might have come out sooner!"

Bakura grumbled from his seat, "Honestly, I tried, but it's kinda hard to talk to someone when you have a book launched at your head!"

Yami groaned before he quickly began to make his way over to the other couch where Yugi was sat still as the dead and blushing like mad. Soon enough, Yami was stood in front the blind girl and a nervous chuckle fell from his lips as he held out a hand to the girl, "S-Sorry about that. It's nice to meet you...uh..."

Yugi (Still blushing) offered a small smile as she tested the waves and sounds around her, before gently taking a hold of the man's outstretched hand and starting to slowly shake it. "Yugi. Yugi Motou."

Yami's eyes widened as his grip in the girl's hand tightened. 'No way!' he thought to himself as his eyes raked over to the girl in front of him, unknowingly making her skin tingle and a shiver to run up her spine. "Y-Yugi... Motou?" he asked almost in a whisper as if to confirm the name with his own tongue. Yugi nodded slowly as she resisted the urge to pull her hand from his grip. Although it wasn't... unpleasant, it was making her more and more uncomfortable as time wore on. Suddenly, without any warning whatsoever, Yami released the girl's hand and turned away before he sprinted toward the room he had only minutes ago vacated, very nearly crashing into the platinum blondes as they re-entered the room.

"Hey," called Malik as she dragged her half conscious boyfriend over to the only free couch and sat down, "What's got him so worked up?" Seto, Joey and Serenity merely shook their heads before all three of them looked at Yugi who was looking more puzzled than the rest of them.

"I-I think it was something about my name..." mused Yugi as she nervously wrung her hands in her lap. Did Yami already hate her that much?

"NO FUCKING WAY!" Everyone looked up as Yami emerged from the doorway, a single piece of paper firmly grasped in his hand. The man's face was pulled into a huge smirk as he glanced between the paper and the girl. "And here I thought my luck couldn't get any better!"

"What the hell are you talking about, Yami?" asked Seto as he glared at the singer who was still gazing at the girl, awestruck.

Yami's smirk only got wider as he made his way over to Yugi before holding the page up in front of her nose. "You wrote this song, didn't you?"

Yugi stiffened at the gesture. She didn't know what to do. She couldn't say that she couldn't see the thing, they would suspect something!

"EH?" scratched Jaden as he looked at the paper the singer was holding. "Yugi, isn't that the song you wrote for me ages ago? You know, back when I had just started using my "E-HERO" deck. Why does Yami have it?"

Yami's eyes lit up like flames. "I have it because she sent it in for a contest the band and I have been holding!"


	9. Chapter 9

_Author's Note:_

Evil: It's FINALLY HERE!

Heart: Hello again! Sorry for the major delay; we've just started writing the continuation about a week and a half ago and also the internet has been shut off for reasons unknown. T~T Plus we want to make sure there aren't any plot holes in what we've planned.

Evil: So tired….. We don't own YuGiOh or its characters….. Yet. ;D And we do not own the song written here.

Heart: Please enjoy the continuation of Sightless Music! Give us your feedback, opinions, ideas, anything! We'd very much appreciate it!

Evil: Once again, thank you YamiToMangaka for allowing us to continue this version of the story. Enjoy!

Chapter 9~ A Light of New Hope

Silenced emanated throughout the room, no one moved; instead they waited. They waited for the silent girl to cheer with delight or jump excitedly around the room. To their disappointment, nothing happened. No laughter, no clapping- not even a smile. Only fear gripped the young girl. Amethyst eyes widened in apprehension, making her grip tighten around Serenity's hand. As Yami's smile began to waver, Serenity squealed, breaking the silence that threatened to expose the buried.

"OMG! Does that mean she won?! Congrats Yugi!"

Shoving Jaden into a mountain of papers, Serenity snatched the lyrics from Yami's hand. After a few seconds of pretending to read, she proceeded to glomp Yugi overwhelmingly, covering the scared girl's face. Tristan, catching on to Serenity's act, bear-hugged both girls. "We knew you could do it Yug!"

"Th- thank you so much! I'm glad you liked my song." Yugi breathed; relieved her two best friends saved her from revealing her secret to her idols. Rebuilding her composure and exiting her friend's death hug, she thought "Maybe everything will be alright."

"Hey! Isn't that the shrimp who sang _My Immortal_ on YouTube? Ow!" Bakura yelped as Ryou's elbow hits him in the stomach.

"It's not nice to comment on people's height if they're sensitive about it."

However, Yugi wasn't listening to Ryou, she only heard Bakura. Once more she stiffened; a new fear crept into her thoughts breaking her newly acquired composure. "Wh- What are you talking about?" Turning to her saviors, her hand gripped more firmly to the other girl's, "What is he talking about?"

The impact of Yugi's panic was too much for Tristan and Serenity. They broke their promise; that's all there was too it. They betrayed their friend's trust, took advantage of her loss of sight, and unleashed her insecurities. There was no hiding it, so the duo broke down and explained as best as they could while the others watched awestruck. "We recorded you using Serenity's phone. . . We're so sorry! We just wanted people to hear your voice, please understand Yugi!" But no amount of begging or explaining could soothe the frightened girl. Releasing her grip on her prosecutor's hand, she backed away into the wall.

"Finally she lets go of her hand!"

"Shut up Bakura! Can't you see she's stressed?" Ryou glared surprising her boyfriend at the intensity of her brown, doe-like eyes. "I can't believe you're so single-minded!"

Ignoring the white-haired couple, Yugi shut her eyes, enveloping the darkness that was already present. Even though she felt as though the ground was shaking, she knew it was only her own trembling body wracked with anxiety. "You said you wouldn't do this... You promised!" To everyone's dismay, the young girl collapsed, trembling as she hit the floor. Fear, terror, pain coursed through her veins bringing tears to her eyes. No one knew what to do. They stood frozen, not knowing how to comfort her all except for Yami and Ryou.

"Guys. Guys! Just give her some air!" Sidestepping Serenity, Ryou made her way to Yugi. "Poor girl, come on. Let's get you outside."

After helping her to her feet, Ryou led Yugi through the vast mansion into the backyard patio with Yami silently following behind. Numbly, Yugi allowed herself to be led, not caring that she looked like a mess in front of her favorite lead singer. Outside, the white- haired girl bade Yugi to sit on the steps of the enormous patio. Yami reached for a blanket and wrapped it around the silent girl while Ryou placed hot chocolate into her hands. Gratefully, she took a sip lost in thought. Cautiously, the rock star slid next to her, watching her oblivious form with steady eyes.

"Yami keep Yugi company while I give her friends and Bakura a talk."

"Crimson eyes twinkled in amusement hearing an unusual tense edge in Ryou's voice, "Sure, have fun! Try not to scare them too much."

Waving off the youth's sarcasm, the brown-eyed girl stalked angrily back towards the mansion. With each step fading, Yami began to feel uneasy as the silence grew. He looked back towards Yugi, surprised she was still lost in her own world. 'I wonder what she thinks of. I wish I could see her eyes, then, maybe I could guess what's hiding in the depths of her mind' he thought. Unconsciously, he reached for the girl's bulky glasses only to have his hand locked in an unexpected iron grip as soon as he touched them.

"Do you respect anyone's personal space?" Yugi questioned hoarsely.

Taken aback by the girl's change of attitude, he took his hand back. "Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you… I just wanted to know what you were thinking about."

With a sigh, Yugi calmed down trying not to take her anger out on Yami. "No it's my fault. I shouldn't have snapped at you. I just never expected that my friends would break their promise."

At a loss on what else to say, they both looked out quietly at the stars overhead. Or at least Yugi pretended to. Her eyes hidden by her sunglasses, wished she could see the person next to her. Hearing his voice close to her would never console her. She could picture Jaden, her family and her friends just fine, but what she wanted to see would be too far into the darkness for her to pierce. Plus, it would be awkward to ask 'what do you look like' while he sat next to her.

Yami spoke, breaking her out of her reverie, "Umm… Uhhh…. I really liked the song you wrote." Suddenly his voice became gentle as the whispering wind,"You're a really good singer too."

"Oh no you saw it too!" Now was when reality hit her. Her favorite idol was commenting on her singing of which she tried so hard not to do in public. Heat crawled onto her cheeks causing her to feel more embarrassed than she already felt. Mortified, she covered her face with her hands and whimpered. Panicking, the crimson eyed rock star tried to comfort the small girl.

"No, no! Don't cry! I mean you're not good… you're great!" However, all Yami earned was another heartbroken sob. 'Crap, I have no idea how to deal with crying girls. Ironic seeing as half the band is made up of girls,' he thought sullenly. "Shit! Please, please, PLEASE don't cry! It's gonna be ok!"

Unable to keep a straight face any longer, Yugi burst into hysterical laughter at the rock star's awkward attempt at comforting a sobbing girl. "Haha! Gotchya didn't I?!" The sudden change in mood caught Yami off guard, and his horrible stuttering only made Yugi laugh harder. Wiping the tears from her eyes she turned to where she thought Yami was. "I'm sorry! I just needed to laugh."

As quickly as her joy emerged, it soon subsided leaving a sad smile on her pale features. Understanding the humor in her little stunt, Yami unconsciously let a smile replace his surprise. Never before had a girl treated him like a regular person- well, except his band mate's girlfriends, of course. However, Yugi in all her awkwardness just did what no other fan girl could. "Well. . . It was pretty funny." And so they sat into another lapse of silence, both aware of each other's presence.

"Again. . . I'm sorry for what happened earlier. . . You know about the singing thing. ." With a frustrated sigh, Yami ceased speaking waiting for the girl's reply.

"It's ok! I should be the one apologizing for freaking out." Yugi squeaked abruptly.

Patting her shoulder, the rock star chuckled. "Relax! It's perfectly understandable. I was the same way when the band and I started out. Before every show, no one was more nervous then me. But after a while you get used to the roar of the crowd and find that it's actually inspiring."

Whipping her head back towards Yami's general direction, Yugi cried out and partly fibbed, "Really? But I would of thought otherwise! You look so comfortable and calm onstage!" This time it was her turn to be shocked and surprised. He used to be a nervous wreck?! Him?! YAMI SENNEN?! But he's the greatest singer of all time! He has absolutely nothing to be nervous about! But what if he was. . . Did he pace back and forth across the room hoping he didn't make any mistakes? Was he ever afraid of people judging him? Did he. . Did he used to be like me? He couldn't have been. He's not-

Yami chuckled, ignoring Yugi's extreme fan girl moment, "Everyone feels nervous when they're onstage for the first time. But-"

"A PROMISE IS A FREAKING PROMISE! YOU-" Ryou shouted from inside the mansion. The intensity of her anger made the two cringe with fear. The blind girl would've never thought the soft spoken keyboard player would wake that much of a racket.

"Geez! I feel bad for your friends. When Ryou gets REALLY angry she goes all out!" Yami said smirking.

Giggling a little, Yugi replied "I can tell but she seems like a nice person."

"She is-"

"AND DON'T GET ME STARTED BAKURA! I'VE JUST ABOUT HAD IT WITH YOU!"

Keeping a straight face became nothing but impossible for the two. Together they burst into mind crushing laughter. Tears rolled down their faces as they dropped to the ground holding their stomachs. No matter what they did, they couldn't stop the laughter and in vain they tried to regain composure. After a few more minutes they could finally speak through uncontrollable giggles. "So- Haha- why did you name the band- hmha- Millennium?" Yugi asked.

Blushing wildly, Yami said. "Umm… Well that's because that's how long I want our music to last. I want to be able to inspire people around the world with my music as each millennium passes…. Is that too corny?"

"No. Actually, it's pretty sweet and genuine." Yugi said with a smile.

With that, the blush on Yami's face became significantly darker from his already cherry-red face. 'Wow, no one's ever said that to me before. The band usually looks at me like I'm insane when I mention this, well, except Ryou whose very understanding.' He thought solemnly.

"Well… That's great!" He sighed in relief. "Most people I say it too tell me that's kinda crazy."

"Most people are blind to things meaningful and special because they are concerned with what's in their possession." Yugi said forlornly, wishing more than ever that she could see her favorite singer's face. A millennium, huh. No, it would be longer that, they're too good to be heard just once.

Just then, the sound of Yami's soft baritone voice interrupted the tri-colored girl's thoughts.

_I dig my toes into the sand,_

_The ocean looks like diamonds _

_Strewn across a blue blanket._

_I lean against the wind;_

_Pretend that I am weightless._

_And in this moment I am happy, happy._

_I wish you were here, I wish you were here_

_I wish you were here, I wish you were here_

After so many times of singing along to the rock star's voice, Yugi unconsciously sang as well. Filling her mind of 'Wish You Were Here', the band's first ever song they performed and written.

_I lay my head unto the sand,_

_The sky resembles a backlit canopy_

_With holes punched in it._

_I'm counting UFOs_

_I signal them with my lighter._

_And in this moment I am happy, happy._

_I wish you were here, I wish you were here_

_I wish you were here, I wish you were here_

Suddenly, a face materialized under Yugi's dark lids, one she never expected to see. A male copy of herself drifted through the dark abyss her eyes became accustomed to emitting a bright light around his body. Crimson-amethyst eyes stared into her sympathetically, wanting to erase her pain. Comfort was in those eyes, love was in his smile, gentleness was in his bronze touch, and enchantment was everything he _was_. But he's gone now, fading away slowly in her memories. 'He loved this song and sang it to me when I was sad. I love you Atemu,' Yugi thought numbly.

Not noticing her thoughts, the song continued naturally as it had began.

_The world's a rollercoaster, _

_And I am not strapped in. _

_Maybe I should hold with care;_

_But my hands are busy in the air_

_Saying_

_I wish you were here, I wish you were here_

_I wish you were here, I wish you were here_

_I wish you were here, I wish you were here_

_I wish you were here, I wish you were here_

Slowly, the notes ended in wonderful clarity. A harmony impossibly beautiful teased Yami's ears, not wanting it to end. He looked at the girl staring ahead into the night hoping she felt the same. To him, it was as if their singing had silenced the night to listen to them; the crickets quieted their unrelenting chatter, the faint breeze ceased to blow, and the trees stopped their rhythmic dance with the wind.

"Umm. Can I ask you something Yugi?"

"It depends. What is it?" She asked half curious half suspicious. Her mind drifting from arisen memories.

"I was wondering if you would like to write a few of our songs, I mean the band's songs. Maybe you and I can meet up sometime and write a couple together…. But if you don't want to that's perfectly fine… I just… your song was amazing." He said hesitantly. 'And so is your singing… Why am I so hesitant right now? She's just a girl not a reporter! Calm down, Yami you can do this! Just talk like you would to Ryou or Malik.' He thought wildly.

Bewildered, Yugi stuttered, "Uh… Yes! I mean, No! Wait! I- I don't know!" Calming herself down, she tried again, "Maybe. I'll think about it."

Like a child getting candy, Yami brightened, his hesitance all gone. "Would you? That'd be great!" Excitedly, he hugged Yugi with all the force he could muster almost knocking off the girl's glasses.

"Hey!" Caught off guard, she fought not to shy away from his embrace. Once calm, she began to blush realizing that HE was hugging her. Yami Sennen! 'Gosh I'm such a fan girl,' she thought embarrassed. Cautiously she set her forgotten now empty mug beside her and slowly patting the rock star's shoulder.

"Oh sorry! Sometimes, when I'm really happy I don't realize what I'm doing and I tend to get very huggy." Releasing the girl from his death grip, he awkwardly sat back. 'Gosh, I almost forgot she's 17. If we were in public I'm pretty sure a policeman would give me the evil-eye.'

"It's alright." She smiled. "My brother Jaden is like that and so are my friends. I guess you could say I'm used to it."

"Speaking of your friends," Yami interrupted. "They've been quiet for an awfully long time, I wonder what's going on. Shall we go check on them?" Not waiting for her answer, he rose to his feet halfway before hearing Ryou's voice once more.

"And you Kuriboh hair, Jaden- whatever your name is! Clean up the papers you dropped! It's bad enough we have messy men with us so we don't need another one!"

"It wasn't my fault! What the hell was I supposed to do? Dodge it while gravity pulls me down? Do you want me to sprout fucking wings and FLY?!" Jaden retaliated. CRASH! BOOM! BANG!

Suddenly the porch door burst open, Jaden running like a bat out of hell. "Holy SHIT! HELP ME!" Hurtling over the two sitting down, he sprinted into the night.

"Get back over here you Kuriboh! I'm not done yet!" Ryou shouted in hot pursuit of the brown haired boy.

"I'M NOT A KURIBOH YOU CRAZY HAG!"

Followed by the white-haired girl were Seto, Serenity, Bakura, and Malik entered the vast porch; all wearing an amused or pissed expression.

"Geez, does she always sound like she's PMSing when she's angry?" A very irritated-looking Serenity asked.

Smirking, Seto and Malik replied simultaneously, "You have no idea."

" Well, well, well,… Look at this pretty sight everyone." Bakura said, grabbing the attention of the other three towards the tri-colored duo laughing their asses off in front of them. Amused at their fast friendship, Bakura decided to mess with them a bit. He said a little too loudly, "Thank GOD they're not making out yet."

Pleased that their laughter ceased into awkward silence scooting away from each other as far as the floor allowed, he turned to address everyone. "Shall we sit back, relax, and watch the Kuriboh get his ass kicked by a girl with a frying pan? Don't worry Yugi, she won't hurt him….. Very badly anyway."

Reluctantly, they all sat and watched, slowly letting the tension turn to laughter and irregular giggles. Somehow, though, Yami found himself next to Yugi once more. Taking one of her free hands, he held it and gave her a reassuring squeeze. Looking at the girl, he found that she wouldn't meet his eyes, looking elsewhere but at him. He thought it strange but saw red creeping back onto her cheeks. 'Ah, she's probably embarrassed or shy.' Smiling he let his grip loosen but never released her hand. Instead he held it gently between them, interlacing their fingers. Content, he turned back to the funny sight just ahead of him laughing softly.

Yugi, following the others lead laughing when they laughed, giggling when they giggled. What surprised was the unfamiliar hand in hers. It was too big to be Serenity's and to slim to be either Tristan's or Jaden's. She couldn't tell who it was, there were too many people around her judging by the body heat being given off to tell. It wasn't until she felt the reassuring squeeze when she really wanted to know who it was. She "looked" around everywhere except at the spot next to her listening to each voice trying to decipher who was who. After a while of confusion, she gave up. 'I'll just ask Jaden tomorrow if he isn't hurt too bad. Haha, he won't be happy when we get home…. I like this hand… It's so…. Comforting. I feel safe just by holding it.' Feeling better, she leaned back and proceeded to copy the others at the best of her ability.

'There's something strange about that girl.' Bakura thought watching Yugi. Using the moonlight to his advantage, he observed the girl without having to get closer. 'Why does she wear those weird glasses? And what's that under them? A scar? I'll look into it later.' Turning his back to them, he looked up into the starry sky ignoring everyone else. 'A storm's coming. Maybe not soon… but it's coming nonetheless.'

Evil: Oooooh! Epic cliff hanger!

Heart: It's alright. *shrug* let's hope everyone else thinks so.

Evil: So you do think its epic! O.o

Heart: O.O" *runs off* AHHHHH! YES I DO! I WROTE IT!

Evil: *watches Heart run off* Haha! I knew it! Not to be a spoiler but the next chapter has an unexpected surprise! *shrugs* BUT THAT'S ALL I'M SAYING! *runs after Heart*

Both: *stop and turns to readers* o.O what did you think? *points to readers crazily* Tell us your thoughts! Byes!


	10. Chapter 10

_**Author's Note:**_

Heart: Hello again! We've finally got chapter 10 online! Sorry for the wait guys, we had a vacation right after we updated chapter nine and didn't get started until 7-14-12 for chapter ten. ^-^"

Evil: Yeah sorry guys…. Oh and thanks you for all your sweet comments to those who reviewed. Honestly, we weren't expecting that many having good feedback.

Heart: When we uploaded that chapter, I was seriously scared. I thought it was good then I though 'oh my Ra it sucked' and I got really insecure. Then your reviews came in and saved me from a total breakdown. *Hugs all reviewers* Thank you so much!

Evil: Now, if you can continue reviewing it would be much appreciated. Opinions, suggestions, anything. We'd love to know. Heart, take it away!

Heart: We do not own YuGiOh nor the songs used. They belong to their respective owners and deserve credit for their work. We partially own the plot but other than that, ENJOY!

Evil: Thank you especially to YamiToMangaka who helped us with a certain aspect within this chapter that will be unknown to all of you until you read. *smirk evilly* Byes!

_Chapter 10:__ Nightmares and Daydreams_

An eerie silence plagued the Motou household. No sound could be heard anywhere in the confines of the witch's hour. Anywhere except Yugi's room. The stepsibling's giggles couldn't breach the barrier that protected them from the rest of the house. 'It was the best night of our lives!' both reminisce that night and any other. For now, however; they were content with their laughter.

"I can't believe Ryou chased you into the pool! Haha! You almost got beaten up by a girl!" Yugi laughed hysterically.

"It's not funny!"

"You're right! It's not funny," Yugi claimed with pretended seriousness. "It's hilarious!" In a fit of uncharacteristic rage, Ryou chased the younger Motou around the backyard and into the pool. This resulted in a soaking Jaden and a clearly satisfied keyboard player. Needless to say, the night had gone well especially since none of the band members suspected Yugi's disability.

"But I did notice you and Yami holding hands!" Jaden returned with a coy grin, his eyes twinkling mischievously. Expecting Yugi to respond excitedly, he sat back on the bed arms crossed in a fake superior manner. "You're so daring sis! First you write a song he adores, then, he asks you to write the band's songs, and only half an hour ago you traveled to where no obsessed fan girl ever went! His hand!"

"WHAT?! WHO was holding my hand?" A beet-red Yugi screamed causing Jaden to jump at her sudden outburst.

"I thought you would've memorized his voice by now considering you listen to them like every freaking day! Yes it was Yami!" An amused little brother teased.

'He was holding my hand?' Yugi thought rapidly. 'Bu- but I didn't hear his voice! I thought he was somewhere else…. Oh!" Flabbergasted, Yugi ceased speaking and dropped her head in her hands blushing into a deeper, indescribable red.

Jaden watched his step-sister very carefully. Her reaction was one he hadn't expected and judging by her obvious embarrassment, there was something more than 'not knowing' who held her hand. "Yugi…? Do you LIKE like Yami?" He questioned bringing an unwelcome silence between the two.

"Well…. I-" Yugi started.

"Lady Yugi! A phone call for you!" Solomon appeared out of thin air, saving Yugi from farther embarrassment.

"O- Ok. Who is it?" She said turning to Solomon's general direction. 'I have got to thank him more often! The nice old man may not know it, but he rescued me!'

"I think you know him." Solomon replied with a wink handing Yugi the phone and turning to leave afterwards. Observing the exchange, the young brunette smiled, thinking the rock star was on the other side of the phone call.

"Hello? This is Yugi. Who may I ask is speaking?"

"Hey, it's me Duke." Replied a voice with noticeable confidence.

"Duke?!" A confused Yugi yelped.

"Tell him you're busy!" Jaden yelled. The black-haired fiancé of his sister gave him an awful feeling every time he was around and did not like that he was making midnight calls like a stalker to his sister.

"At three in the morning? Yeah right! Tell your bro he's on speaker." Duke laughed.

After a few minutes of arguing, the tri-color haired girl managed to drive her brother out of her room and into the grand hallway. Sinking back to her bed, she felt around for the phone and returned to Duke. "So how did you know I was awake? Are you a wizard now?" She teased tiredly.

"It's not hard to tell when the light in your room is on."

Sitting straight up, she held the phone tightly. "Wait, what?! Are you a stalker?" Her voice as hard as her grip questioned.

"Haha NO! I'm just kidding. I saw you at the Millennium concert and assumed you were still awake because you couldn't sleep. Anyways, that's beside the point. I was wondering if I could come over tomorrow or today as the case may be." He chuckled.

"SAY NO!" Yugi's door swung open with a loud crash as Jaden burst into the room looking Olympic ready to race.

"Still on speaker buddy!" A muffled voice said trying to fight off laughter.

"Damnit! Fuck you man!" An outraged Jaden yelled.

Appalled at her brother's outburst Yugi came to Duke's defense. "Language! And begone! I banish thee to thy room!" she commanded half-heartily as she watched Jaden stalking out of the room quicker than he last entered the room. She returned to the call immediately after she made sure her little Kuriboh wasn't snooping again. 'I wonder why he doesn't like Duke. He's been nothing but nice to us.'

"Well that was amusing." Finally, he released his contagious laugh. Smiling, Yugi followed suit, feeling oddly comforted at his easy-going attitude. "So can I come over?"

Hesitantly, Yugi tried to think of a reason why he _shouldn't_ come. He _was_ her fiancé and she had to obey her parents no matter what she wanted for herself. 'Maybe if he came over, my parents will be off my back for a while. Plus, he is nice so I wouldn't mind it.' Happily she replied, "Sounds like you don't take no for an answer."

"Nope!"

With pretended exasperation, the girl retorted, "Fine! Since I can't seem to be rid of this engagement! No pun intended. … But you're cooking!"

Playing along, Duke voiced with complete accuracy the accent of an English butler, "Is there anything else you require my lady?"

Laughing, Yugi fell back into the bed thinking of a smart-alec response that would please her and her funny friend. "Yes! I request that you wear a frilly apron!"

"Hell NO!" He said seeing the error in his choice of words.

"Hell yes!" Yugi chuckled. She enjoyed his dread even if she couldn't see the look on his face or the apron on him. "You asked if I had any requirements and that is what I require. Take it or leave it!"

"….. Fine! You enjoy my misery don't you!" Duke mocked.

"Of course! How else would I get my entertainment? I'll sit here, twirl my hair, and hear your groans of dread as I demand another humiliating task out of you."

"You little bas- why are the short ones always so evil? Anyway, you might want to go to sleep soon, I don't want to keep you up late. It's four thirty in case you were wondering."

Yugi was shocked to hear it was already very late. "Holy Ra! It's that time already? Ok, well good night Duke, See ya in the morning!"

"Haha, good night my little one!" He said gently before hanging up.

"My little one? Duke- Crap he hung up."

Dropping the phone beside her, she climbed under the covers. Taking deep breaths she tried to sleep, but it wouldn't come. Voices filled her mind, keeping her from falling into yet another abyss called slumber. Thoughts of Yami, Duke, and sorrowfully like every other night, Atemu forced her to stay conscious. It wouldn't be for a while until the girl fell asleep, falling into merciless nightmares that kept her tossing and turning. In her dreams, she was running, running through an endless forest away from the same faces that looked at her with hatred, who spoke to her with nothing but scorn. Dashing wildly, she spotted a flash of light and sprinted towards it.

"Yugi help me!"

"Atemu? Atemu!"

"HELP ME!"

The horrendous sound of metal hitting metal filled the air as fear choked screams resounded through her ears. "Wait for me Atemu, I'm coming!" Up ahead, the light grew brighter as she surged forward. Tearing through the forest, she fought branches and bushes to find her blood brother, to silence his screams. Nothing could stop her, she flew out of the forest and into a garbage ridden street that held the mess of a car accident. She skidded to a stop, sure that her brother was here, looking to her for safety. Frightened, she glanced quickly at the scene in front of her, quickly regretting it. Bloodied bodies and ruined cars surrounded her, causing her to choke on her own breath. Slowly she staggered into the wreckage and continued onward with a sick feeling in her stomach with wide amethyst eyes searching.

"Yugi…. I'm sorry."

Freezing to a stop, Yugi clutched at her chest, knowing that voice was the one she was searching for. Gathering her courage, she called trying not to waver, "Atemu?"

"Behind you, Yugi….. I'm here."

Turning slowly, she looked to the ground at a sight that made her blood run into an icy river coursing through her body. He was lying on his side in a pool of his own crimson blood, gashes across his body openly bleeding, as he struggled to Yugi.

"Atemu No!" Yugi cried as she raced towards her brother and collapsed next to him. Gabbing his hand she sobbed, tears running down her face onto Atemu. "Please don't leave me. Not like this, PLEASE!" Her body trembled violently with sorrow, with guilt, wanting somehow to save him from inevitable death.

Suddenly, Atemu's gentle bloodied hand reached up and stroked Yugi's cheek. "I'm sorry… But there is someone else who will take my place. I must leave-" he stopped short coughing up more blood.

"Who Atemu? Who could ever take your place?" She said gazing into his deep crimson eyes. As soon as she looked into them, her vision blurred, slowly returning to black. "Noo!"

"Relax Yugi, he will help, his name is-"

_I have nothing left to give,_

_I have found the perfect end, _

_You were made to make it hurt._

_Disappear into the dirt. _

_Carry me to heaven's arms,_

_Light the way and let me go_

_Take the time to take my breath,_

_I will end where I began._

"You liked this song didn't you, Yugi. 'Dear Agony' is its name right?" Atemu said, his voice becoming faint. Trying to meet his eyes through the fog, Yugi held her brother close not caring whether the blood got on her and stained her skin. All she wanted was her brother, nothing more.

_Dear Agony,_

_Just let go of me._

_Is this the way its gotta be?_

_Don't bury me faceless enemy._

_I'm so sorry,_

_Is this the way its gotta be?_

_Dear Agony._

_Leave me alone,_

_God let me go, _

_I'm blue and cold,_

_Black sky will burn._

_Love pull me down,_

_Hate lift me up._

_Just turn around,_

_There's nothing left. _

"Millennium wrote this." Yugi whispered though steady tears. Waiting for the solemn song to end, she turned her blind attention to Atemu once more. "You loved them too remember?" As Atemu closed his eyes, her own vision faded to black, leaving nothing but the memory of her blood soaked brother smiling at her.

Faintly she heard through the dark, "He will take care of you. His name is-"

"Yugi wake up!" A very loud and very close voice shouted in frustrated tone.

"Waaah!" Startled, the sleepy girl lurched and fell off the bed with a loud thump. "Owww! Jaden, can't you find a safer way to wake up a blind girl!?" Yugi sighed, rubbing her now sore butt.

"Sorry but it's ten already and I thought you should get up. Besides, you started kicking in your sleep again and it's scaring the hell out of everyone." The brunette chuckled.

"Fine, fine, fine! Do me a favor and hand me my glasses will you? They're in my drawer."

"Alrighty! Hey, I'm heading out soon. Me and Chazz are meeting up again. I can't wait!" he squealed suddenly as he helped his sister put on her sunglasses.

"Hey chill! You sound like a Millennium fan girl. Haha ok, see ya later then bro."

After she was certain her brother's footsteps were long gone, she sat back into the bed, listening to the beckoning silence. Once more it was quiet; the unbreakable stillness that could frighten even the bravest enveloped the young girl as she reminisced in yet another nightmare that haunted her for the past five years. 'When will I be forgiven?'

Finally, disgusted by herself, she fled the room down the stairs with the wall as her guide. Hoping to find Solomon for comfort, she stalked towards the kitchen where a wonderful smell of pancakes and sausage assaulted her nose. "Solomon, that smells good!"

"Glad you think so my lady! Is there anything else thou requirest?" An old man's voice said who was obviously NOT Solomon.

Shocked, the girl screamed. "Who the hell are you?!" Yugi jumped, crashing into the counter beside her.

"I'm hurt Yugi! You've forgotten our planned engagement. No pun intended of course. It's me Duke you dork!" Duke laughed, unfazed by Yugi's forgetfulness. Somehow, he could never hold anything against the sweet girl whom he started to love.

Relieved, Yugi moved forward to greet Duke with a hug. "Oh Duke!" Feeling frilly fabric beneath her fingertips, she laughed. "You're wearing the apron! How are you feeling with it on?"

"I'm alright. You know, besides the public humiliation and the awkward stares your family and maids gave me, I'm just peachy. Though I think Jaden was having more fun out of it than I am. C'mon little one, let's eat!"

Allowing Duke to lead her to the table, Yugi forgot all that ailed her. For the moment as they chatted and ate, there was no worry. No one forcing her into marriage, no one pressuring her to sing, not even the time passing by bothered her. It was as if she were listening to music itself as Duke spoke animatedly at his new gaming project. He never wavered, or left any awkward air between them and made the girl feel welcome for once. 'I could listen to him talk for hours. I like him but I don't want to marry him.' Yugi thought sadly. When it was safe to interrupt Duke, she cried, "I'm stuffed!"

Duke, sitting back while patting his stomach, could do nothing but agree with the girl. "You could say that again! Hey wanna go for a walk and be rid of our growing bellies?" A hopeful gleam shined in the black haired youth's eyes, as if he was desperate to say something weighing on his thoughts. 'I really want to tell her…..'

"Sure I guess. I don't have anything planned for today." Yugi said with a smile that took Duke's breath away. Dazed, the gamer stood and helped Yugi out of her seat.

"Great! Go get dressed because we are spending the day at the park. Now…. Can I take off this frilly death trap before we leave?"

Hearing the agitated edge in his speech Yugi laughed softly. "Sure go right ahead my maid! I'll be down in a minute." Quietly heading back towards the way she came, leaving Duke in silence.

Watching her depart, he noticed subtle grace of a dancer in her step, the noiselessness in the way she moved, and how her hair flowed like curtains dancing with the sea breeze. Yugi herself was the incarnation of beauty even if she was scarred. Waiting as her footfalls faded, he spoke so softly that even a feather wouldn't shy away, "Hopefully from now on, I'll be your eyes little one."

At the Park

Arriving at Domino Park, the duo glanced around at their surrounding before resting at a park bench underneath the shade of pink cherry blossom trees. The park was unusually empty for a sunny Saturday. Without the comforting sounds of children screaming in delight, and the loud chatter from strolling families, the place was practically a ghost town save for the rustling trees. They both listened; hearing the voice of nature at her prime as she gently touched their skin and smiled at them with her warm sunshine. Duke lost in thought, gazed out into the abandoned jungle gyms and play grounds patiently awaiting the arrival of their playmates. Yugi, however, was in pure bliss. The caress of the wind, the steady touch of sunshine, and the rustle of the grass sent her back to her own personal Wonderland.

"Yugi, you in there?"

Breaking from her dreamland, she turned back to her companion. "Oh sorry! It's been a while since I've been to the park. I think since the- " She broke off suddenly, not wanting more painful memories to demolish her barricade that guarded her happiness. "Um, you were at the concert right?"

"Yes! They were great!" Ignoring the girl's abrupt change of subject and instead, brought a new conversation of the music they both loved. The two continued to speak frivolously of the band and how they were introduced to them. But, as Yugi was getting to her adventure with the band last night, she noticed Duke was losing interest rapidly. His demeanor changed like he carried the weight of a heavy burden laid on his shoulders.

Carefully, the girl spoke, "Duke…? Is there something wrong? You're awfully quiet at the moment."

"Ah. Sorry…. It's just…. The other night you shared something so personal with me so… so since you opened your heart to me, I want to open mine to you." Gently, he took both of her hands and gazed at her face.

'Oh my Ra, what's going on?' Yugi thought fearfully. The feeling of Duke confessing his love to her immediately passed through her mind making her blush. 'Bu- but I don't like him that way!' Suddenly Yami's voice and the feel of his hands pierced her confusion and brought a river of a new emotion she had never felt before. Compelled, she compared both hands. Yami's was one of safety, like she could be anywhere and feel at home, but Duke's was different. He felt constant, like the stars in the night sky, always supportive.

"Yugi. **I'm gay**!"

_Author's Note:_

Heart: Didn't expect that one did ya!

Evil: So… You're wondering who in the world thought of this… Well, I did!

Heart: First we asked YamiToMangaka her opinion, and once it was approved, we went all out!

Evil: Just so you know, some of these scenes we actually had to act out to get it right, like the Ryou chasing Jaden scene.

Heart: Ahhh so much fun in that particular one. *smiles evilly*

Evil: O.O…. ANYWAYS! Tell us what you think! Any ideas or comments you can review or PM us. Let's hope they don't kill us for doing this specific plot twist. *scoots away*

Heart: O.o I agree. BYEEE!


	11. Chapter 11

_**Author's Note:**_

Heart: ….. We are so sorry we haven't updated in a long time. Evil, explain our excuses. I'm too tired to do it.

Evil: ….. You suck. 1.) We are juniors in high school and it started on August 27. 2.) We've had a crap load of tests and homework to do instead of writing. 3.) We are in the Cross Country team which takes up more time than our sleep.

Heart: It does. We can honestly say our shoes more than likely have more miles than your car. Anyways, sorry for the delay.

Evil: Thank you to those who reviewed, some of them made us laugh aloud and off of our chairs. We'll try to be more consistent in updating but for now, please bear with us.

Heart: Pretty please? *yawn* with a cherry on top? Evil, disclaimer please?

Evil: ….. I don't want to! I want to sleep!

Heart: =.= …. Fine. We don't own YuGiOh….. YET. Nor do we own the songs integrated in this or any other chapter if there may be any. Now, ….. READ WHILE WE SLEEP! ENJOY!

Evil: *HUGE yawn* be warned there is a bit of yaoi or shounen ai (boyXboy love) not really extreme like some are, it's mainly just fluff. Don't like it, don't read. You were warned so no complaints.

_Chapter 11: Of Confessions and Dates_

Last Time on _Sightless Music:_

"Ah. Sorry…. It's just…. The other night you shared something so personal with me so… so since you opened your heart to me, I want to open mine to you." Gently, he took both of her hands and gazed at her face.

'Oh my Ra, what's going on?' Yugi thought fearfully. The feeling of Duke confessing his love to her immediately passed through her mind making her blush. 'Bu- but I don't like him that way!' Suddenly Yami's voice and the feel of his hands pierced her confusion and brought a river of a new emotion she had never felt before. Compelled, she compared both hands. Yami's was one of safety, like she could be anywhere and feel at home, but Duke's was different. He felt constant, like the stars in the night sky, always supportive.

"Yugi. **I'm gay**!"

…..

Silence struck the young girl as she replayed over and over the exact moment she experienced just a few seconds ago. A still ocean of thoughts once quieted now heaved and roared in first shock, then like a lightning's strike, dawning realization hit. The man she would marry was GAY. Unbelieving, she forced her quivering lips to form a word that could describe her utter confusion. "What?"

Sighing, Duke gripped Yugi's hand with a slight pressure, not to hurt her but looking for solace, comfort in her reaction. So far now that the cat was out of the bag, it didn't look promising. Slowly, hoping not to frighten the girl, he replied, "I'm gay."

"B- But what about the engagement?! Was that a farce, a business deal?! Why didn't you tell me?!" Trying to take her hands away without much success, she resorted to have her breakdown in her mind rather than showing it outwardly. 'If he's gay, then why is he doing this? Is he in it for the money or what?'

"I'm explaining it now! Yugi. Please just listen to me!"

Yugi stiffened at the sound of Duke's voice faltering. 'Admitting to this kind of thing…. Is hard. Instead of getting upset over this' Yugi thought forlornly, 'I should hear him out.' Gently, she took a hand out of one of his and softly felt for his face. Cupping his cheek, she felt a stray tear beneath her fingertips. Small, wet, yet so full of sorrowful meaning. The girl brushed away the lone drop, as if to share in some of the burden. Quietly, she motioned for him to continue as she replaced her delicate hand back into his searching grip.

Once, he felt her comforting touch, he smiled. Knowing full well she couldn't see his elated expression, he continued on his confession to the waiting girl.

"I've known I was gay since I was fourteen. Girls didn't hold any appeal to me when it came to attraction and dating and… that upset my parents. I lived in San Francisco at the time, a haven for me because I felt accepted there, like I belonged and felt at home. But since my parents found out, they decided to move to Domino, Japan for 'therapy'." A hard edge began to take the boy's voice. Trembling slightly, he held on to Yugi's hands, fighting the bitter memories that assailed him. "Until I turned fifteen, I was miserable. I became an outcast in this society. My parents hated me and didn't even attempt to hide it no matter where we were. Being at home was hell because all I ever heard was yelling, screaming, and crying about why I couldn't be so DAMN NORMAL!"

"Duke… Calm down. It's just me, Yugi." Now she was holding for dear life to the boy's hands. Desperate to settle his dark mood, she took him in her arms and rocked him slowly as his trembling ceased. Until his rasping breath became a steady, healthy beat did she release him. "I'm here, I'll listen to you, just please calm down Duke."

Hearing the raw innocence in her quiet speech, he felt safe once more. Softly but surely, he returned back to his confession. "Sorry…. It's just, …. Everyone else in San Francisco tolerated me, even made me feel proud to be who I am but here… I had to switch schools constantly because I was beaten and bullied because somehow someone had found out about my sexuality. No matter what I did or what I said to deny what they said, they still were against me. That was until I turned fifteen. Until I met Bruno." At the mention of his name the boy smiled sadly as the bittersweet memory touched his thoughts like feathers floating in the soft breeze.

"Was he…. ?"

"My boyfriend? Yes. One day after I had transferred to a new area of Domino, I had gotten lost and forgot my cell phone at home. I ended up downtown running from some guys who knew me at one of my old schools, but Bruno found me and helped me out. He had the sweetest smile and was kind to me in a way that I have never experienced. We hit it off pretty well and started dating soon afterwards. He was obsessed with motorcycles and even taught me how to ride one too. When I turned sixteen…. He gave me one that HE had built himself from scratch. By that time, we had dated for almost a year without my parents ever finding out. But….. It's over between us now."

Caught up in the story, Yugi felt sympathy for Duke. In a way, he felt the same pain she had after….. "What happened? Did your parents find out?"

Shifting uncomfortably, Duke settled back into the bench releasing his hold on the girl's hand. A new wetness filmed his eyes as he gazed at Yugi. Though she had never felt the sting of a forbidden love, the pain of loss and agony linked the two. Indescribably, they shared this dreary bond, and because they did, the boy never felt such kinship before. Relaxing, he looked out at the fading light that touched the park. Watching as the cherry blossoms drifted past them. Once more, he prepared to launch into a storytelling of yet another harsh memory. "Yes." He stated calmly as he shut his eyes. "But you have to understand … We didn't know my dad was home at the time."

_Flashback: Duke's Garage_

Crank, crank, crank. Clink, clank, crash. Tools hitting the floor filled the silent void across the large, neat garage. Though the room was pristine and organized, the two occupying it would be called something else. The first crouched in front of a jumbled mass of metal that was once called a motorcycle. He adorned the uniform of a late-night working mechanic complete with the stereotypical cap. By all means, he looked as good as his skill with a bike. Hidden underneath the cap were curtains of blue-ish locks framing his pale face and gray eyes. Even to the eyes of the other male he was drop dead gorgeous. 'God Bruno's so cute when he's working.'

The other male, a raven haired, green eyed beauty, rested quietly against the wall across from Bruno. His eyes never once leaving the mechanics movements as he frowned at the extent of the damage. The cause of the wreck as you can guess, was Duke. His clothes were ripped, windblown, and disarrayed as though he washed them in cheese graters. Other than the horrid state his wardrobe was, he miraculously sustained only scrapes and scratches. Pushing back his hair behind his ears, he met the other boy's eyes as the sound of work ceased.

"Dude, what did you do?! I mean I know you said the car slammed into you but damn! Did you have to get her so messed up?"

"If I didn't I wouldn't be alive!" He said sarcasm dripping from his voice. Visibly upset, he glanced away from his boyfriend's disapproving gaze and stalked farther away to the other side of the garage. Finding another suitable spot to ignore Bruno with, he sat down deep into his thoughts not noticing he was being followed.

"Hey…" A husky voice whispered in his ear as warm arms wrapped around him. "Babe, come on. You know I didn't mean it like that."

"Don't you babe me." Furiously, Duke tried to escape Bruno's hold. He replied bitterly, "What if I died in the accident, what then huh? Get off me; I don't want to deal with your bike-loving obsession right now."

Suddenly, the blue haired boy's grip grew tighter, unrelenting as he tossed Duke to the floor. Struck by the sudden change in mood, the boy looked up into the mechanic's eyes from his pinned down position. Passion and heartbreak filled those gray, stormy orbs as they pierced through the other's stare and into what felt like his soul. He was seeing all that could've been if he lost Duke, all the pain and misery he would feel without the spunky boy by his side. Nothing else mattered but the two and their love for each other.

"You think I haven't thought about that? How any day I could lose you? That at any moment your stupid parents can take you away from me? Trust me I may be forgetful but I will always remember the day I found you alone and scared. I remember that hopeless look in your eyes as the rain soaked up your dreams and hopes, so don't think I care more about the bike than you!" Leaning down, Bruno caught Duke's lips in a fervent kiss. Hands intertwining, hair tangling in a dance of emotion, and the spark of each small touch ignited the flame of their hearts. Breathing heavily, they twisted in their embrace and held each other breaking their kiss.

"Duke…. I love you."

"Bruno, I-"

CRASH!

"What is going on here? HOLY SHIT! DUKE! EXPLAIN YOURSELF THIS INSTANT!"

Scrambling off the ground, Duke and Bruno sprang apart hoping to give the illusion of innocence. However, the murderous look on Mr. Devlin's face didn't fool them; they've been caught in the act. Knowing there was nothing he could do to dissuade whatever his father had witnessed, he stepped forward with Bruno's hand in his and swallowed deeply before speaking.

"Dad…. This is my boyfriend Bruno."

_End of Flashback: Back to the Park_

The raven haired boy stopped speaking as the memory ended under his closed lids leaving a dark abyss. Opening them, he found he was crying. Not sobbing, or tearing up, but genuine tears of longing for his one and only love. There would be no one else to take his place, even if he had moved on without him. Hearing a sniffle, he turned back to Yugi to find that she was crying silently. Though most of her face was obstructed by the sunglasses perched upon her nose, the slight tremble in her body and the hitch in her breathing told Duke that she felt sympathy for him.

"And now here we are. In a forced engagement that my dad hopes will fix my 'disease'. He thinks it will help me be more like him, to make me like girls. Yugi, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!" Now both of them let their emotional barriers fall apart and together they sobbed despite the strange looks they were getting from passer-byers.

Yugi sensing the stares they were receiving, took Duke back into her arms. Hoping to quench the pain of fire they both experienced. "Shhh, shhh! Don't be sorry. It's not your fault at all. You were just being you!"

Puzzled, Duke looked up at Yugi recovering only slightly from his emotional breakdown. "But being me is what ruined our relationship!" He cried. "If I had never been gay my dad wouldn't have…"

"Wouldn't have what?" She asked encouragingly curious.

"Thrown away the bike in the junkyard near Bruno's place." He said sheepishly after a long moment of silence.

Now it was Yugi's turn to be silent. No matter how bad things got, no one had ever treated her in such manner. Well, scratch that, many at kids at school and her own parents owned that attitude with pride but she tried not to pay attention to it.

"I'll never know if Bruno truly thinks that I did it. Not that it matters anyway, he probably hates me. And now you're stuck with me."

Noting the bummed, depressed tone in her fiancé's voice, she thought of a quick way to cheer him up. "Yes. I'm stuck with the sweetest and now most honest person in the world." She rearranged her voice and face to be thick with sarcasm and the epitome of a poker face, you know, despite the bulky glasses.

Dumbstruck, Duke replied hesitantly while blushing. "You really think so?" Wiping the tears from both of their cheeks, he turned her to face him so she could hear him clearly.

Smiling that breathtaking smile she had shown earlier when they had breakfast at her home, she faced Duke's general direction and spoke with a voice of pure angelic innocence. "I know so."

Relieved, they both laughed and began to chat idly as more time passed them by. Duke reached into his pocket and pulled out a small flip cell phone. "I got you something. I did some extensive research online and believe me, these things are freaking hard to find."

Handing it to Yugi to discover the object, he smiled once she figured out the true surprise of the phone.

"Duke! You found a phone with Braille keys?! This is so…. So.."

"Sweet?" He offered.

"Yes that!"

"Haha, this phone is special. If you happen to get a text, it's programmed to read it aloud for you so you don't have to worry about anything visual-wise. So. What were you explaining before I started my confession?"

"Oh that's right! Well, yesterday after the concert…"

Listening intently, Duke observed the girl's reaction to all that she spoke about. He noticed small things like her mouth twitching into a quick smile when she spoke of the infamous Yami Sennen, how her shoulders tensed when she relayed her friends betrayal, and the slight movement of her hands when she worried about Jaden's welfare. But the only thing he focused on and smiled broadly about, was the fact the girl had fallen for the lead singer of Millennium. After she finished talking, he took the opportunity to catch her off guard and glomped her with only half of his might.

"Awe! Yugi has a crush on Yami!"

"Why do you and Jaden come up with that conclusion?" She exclaimed while blushing wildly.

"Because it's true!" He said only to be met with stubborn silence. "Silence only means yes so I win!"

In an uncommonly serious tone, she responded, "But we're engaged! I can't go be with someone else when I'm engaged! That's adultery!"

Now matching her seriousness, he shot back in livid frustration. "But I don't want you spending the rest of your life with someone you can never say you love romantically! I'm going to find a way to end this engagement so I can get you and Yami together if it's the last thing I do in this stupid world!" Taking one of her hands in both of his, he addressed her calmly once more. "You're my friend Yugi. We may have known each other for a short amount of time but I want you to be happy. I know you've been through some especially hard times and are probably still dealing with it so I want you to have your fairytale ending. And it may be hard, but I'm next to you, your friends are next to you. Let's take a leap of faith together."

"….. Well you certainly know how to convince a girl."

"See! I told you, you liked Yami!"

Patting his shoulder and brushing off his comment she turned the other way hoping her blush didn't show. "We'll leave that subject for another conversation."

"Humph fine!" He said as he collapsed back onto the bench with his arms crossed. Glancing back at the girl, he caught sight of her fighting laughter. And once more before they departed, they laughed together under the setting sun. For a few more moments, they remained like that. Giggling and smiling wearing the expressions of contentment upon their youthful faces.

Saying their goodbyes was easy and comfortable when they returned to the Motou household. With their secrets stowed deep in the other's hearts, they returned to their life before the confession and heart-to-heart. Back into their own dreary routine of avoiding their parents as the day ended. However, since the boy left, his words of friendship weighed heavily on her mind. Sucking up her pride, she called Tristan and Serenity to apologize. Their reunion was tearful and full of meaningless regret but short-lived because of the Motou's mandatory family dinner. But knowing that each had forgiven each other set their minds at ease as they looked forward to tomorrow once more. Yugi even managed to ignore her parent's snide comments of her following her predestined plan for the future without becoming sorrowful and somber.

Surviving the dinner, Yugi returned to her room guided by no one other than Solomon. Seeing the girl's wondrous look as she hummed throughout the whole journey to her room made the old man's strong heart weaken just a bit. "Goodnight Lady Yugi! Be ready for school tomorrow by seven o' clock sharp please."

"Will do Solomon. Sweet dreams!"

After the old butler shut the door, Yugi collapsed on her bed, the day's events replaying in her mind. Slowly, but surely, her eyelids drooped-

_Once more I'll say goodbye to you,_

_Things happen_

_But we don't really know why._

_If it's supposed to be like this,_

_Why do most of us ignore the chance to miss._

_Oh yeah._

"Ugh! Who's calling me?" Rolling over, she felt around for the phone Duke had given her. Thanking Ra she had the sense to ask Duke how to use the phone, she picked it up listening to "All These Things I Hate" by Bullet For My Valentine a little longer.

_Torn apart at the seams_

_Of my dream turn to fear._

_I'm not feeling this situation._

_Run away,_

_Try to find that safe place you can hide._

_it's the best place to be when you're_

_feeling LIKE ME! _

Flipping the phone open, she responded before the mysterious caller encountered voicemail.

"Hello? Who is this?"

_Yami's POV: Five Minutes Before_

"What do I say? What do I say? What do I say?!"

Pacing around the seclusion of his room was none other than the tri-color haired singer Yami Sennen. Like a vise, he clutched a small, slim purple cell phone and stared at it with such desperation one would think he thought it was alive and his dying lover. If he thought he would be alone in his worries, the youth was completely misguided for the white haired guitarist stood bemused against the open doorway.

"Why don't you just say, 'Oh Yugi I love you! Will you marry a poor bastard like me?'"

Startled, Yami whirled towards the voice he least wanted to encounter at this moment and spotted the chuckling male. No matter what Yami did, neither he nor Ryou could ever get a sympathetic reaction from Bakura, even when the girl was in tears. So with him intruding in the singer's business unsettled him as he prepared to be teased and tormented for his momentary show of weakness.

"Fuck off Bakura!" Oh yeah, so mature. "How do you propose I ask a girl for help without sounding like a desperate and clingy fan girl huh?" Glaring, Yami threw his hands in the air in defeat.

"Easy. Like this." In a swift, fluid motion, Bakura swiped the phone from Yami's hand and dialed Yugi's number before the other could utter a single word of protest. "Under pressure is the best way to screw up talking to a girl so I'd be careful if I were you!" After he completed his evil task, he returned to his place back on the doorway, sneering at Yami's hopelessness.

"Bakura you fuc-" Just then the person on the other line answered the phone. "-king asshole!"

Abruptly, the sound of Yugi's voice filled the room quieting the arising argument between the two in the room. Even with the static crackling the signal, she could be heard clearly and be identified almost immediately because of her sweet voice."Hello? Who is this?"

"Uh hello? Yugi?" Yami said as he tried to regain his composure. "Is this Yugi Motou?"

"Well it certainly isn't a 'king glassmole', who is this again? I'm afraid I didn't get your name."

Running a hand through his hair, the singer felt relieved. She hadn't hung up yet and even better, she was easy to talk to rather than the giggling fan girls he was used to. Turning slightly, he glanced Bakura's way to check if he hadn't taken anything from his room. So far he hadn't moved from his spot and was too preoccupied with glaring at his black painted nails to care about whatever Yami was doing. Hell he could've been prancing around in a dress and the guitarist wouldn't care.

"Haha sorry. It's me Yami. You went to my concert yesterday and we hung out afterwards for your birthday. Again happy birthday. Um, I was wondering if I could come over and write a song or something…. ?"

Waiting for the girl's answer, Yami was furious in his inner thoughts. 'I HATE YOU BAKURA!'

Sensing the intensity of Yami's thoughts, Bakura waved frivolously with an evil smile plastered to his face. Satisfied with Yami's reaction, the white haired boy returned to his thoughts. It was obvious that his band mate was interested in this girl he barely met, however, there was something about her that made him think there was more than what was being projected. Those glasses held some special purpose, I mean, no one uses huge ones like those unless you were gong to some strange party. Frowning, he shifted slightly, leaving his legs arrow straight as his back rested flat against the wall. Those glasses covered half of her face. It was obvious she was hiding something, well unless you were too dimwitted to notice, but what it was she was hiding was puzzling. Maybe a scar of some sort, or maybe she was….. blind? No, not possible, she seemed completely capable of-

"Hey, tomorrow after Yugi's classes we're meeting. Do you and the rest want to come? I think that would be best." Interrupting Bakura's musings, Yami spoke excitedly as if their recent spat had never existed.

'A chance to observe the girl? Who would deny such a beautiful opportunity!?' However, not wanting to throw suspicion on his rogue plans, he wore an expression of carelessness and annoyance. "No. It's a waste of time."

Unaware of Bakura's blatant manipulation, he argued, "Come one! It would benefit all of us!"

"But-" Continuing the charade till the bitter end, he tried to come up with a better poker face when a welcome interruption entered.

"I agree."

Peeking from behind Bakura was Ryou, smiling like nothing in the world was wrong and unsuspecting to her boyfriend's evil plots. "It would benefit us if we had Yugi help us a bit. We would have less work to do around here. Plus-" Winking at Yami, she continued. "Yami's been itching to see her again!"

Moving forward to embrace her boyfriend, Ryou was immediately brushed off as Bakura stalked past her, pushing her slightly back into the wall. "Whatever!" Briskly, he strode forward until he was sure he was completely out of earshot and sight, he smiled that evil-sexy smile. Eyes glinting and body leaning in apparent apprehension, he thought darkly, 'this could be interesting.'

_**Author's Note:**_

Heart: … I hope you guys are happy. I spent all of Sunday and Thursday night writing this. Honest to Ra I wanted to get this uploaded before Evil and I left with our team to a very important meet.

Evil: *looks at readers* Please tell us what you think, review, comment, whatever the hell you want we just want to hear your feedback. Do it quick before Heart has a meltdown here.

Heart: What are you talking about? *twitch & eye squint* I feel fine! Oh and one more thing! I want to tell you readers about the playlist I made on YouTube for this story. Originally I made it for myself so the songs can give me inspiration whenever I hit a road block but I wanted to share it with you all.

Evil: It features songs that you've probably seen in recent chapters, songs that are possibly going to be in the story, and songs that are just purely for inspiration. The user account name is 'AFriend003' and the channel is called 'ValyPal's Channel'. Look for 'Sightless Music Inspiration Playlist' or something like that.

Heart: The account is mine and don't ask where I got the username. It's the result of boredom and pure randomness, enough said. Here's the chapter you've been waiting for.

Evil: Now, it's 11:35 at night, can we PLEASE go to sleep now?

Heart: NO! NOT UNTIL I UPDATE!

Evil: T~T…..

Both: Byes!


	12. Chapter 12

_**Author's Note:**_

Heart: Hey guys, sorry for the MAJOR delay, things around here have been pretty hectic. On the bright side, cross country season has ended so we can spend more time on this than running before and after school. I can't guarantee a regular updating schedule but if you can bear with us, that'd be great.

Evil: Another announcement, another fan fiction may be coming out soon. It's still in debate on whether or not it'll be published due to the fact that we already have so much on our plates. It's a Kingdom Hearts one centered on Squall (yes Squall not Leon. Heart doesn't like the random name change apparently) and Cloud.

Heart: Yep, also, please congratulate Evil! She ran and got 3rd place in our District meet and represented our school along with another runner at the Region meet. Though they didn't advance to State, we are very proud of them.

Evil: Thank you, thank you Heart. Disclaimer! We don't own YuGiOh or any of the songs typed in this story. They belong to their respective owners; all we do is manipulate them with our imagination.

Heart: Well, that should be it, ENJOY THE STORY LOVES!

_Chapter 12:__ Messengers with Bad News_

As another Monday slowly rose into the horizon, students and teachers alike filed into Domino High; dreading yet another horrid day of paperwork and lectures. The agitated slams of lockers and loud chattering of students clamored across the halls in uneven symphony, yet strangely comforting to the small girl pressed against the wall. Humming a cheery tune with a small grin on her face, Yugi waited for the crowds to disperse becoming a murmuring silence so she could walk in peace. Once it was safe, she extended her walking staff and tapped it against the ground in gentle, soothing rhythms. Today was the day. The day Millennium would come over to her house. Though, an anxious nagging kept disrupting her joyful thoughts, _will they find out?_

Suddenly, two sets of familiar foot falls made their way to her. It didn't matter if she couldn't see; she knew when they were near. They had that affect on her, the warm feeling of kinship.

"Hi Tristan! Hi Serenity! Guess what?! Dad and Anzu left this morning for a business trip and won't be back till Wednesday! This is perfect! The parentals won't bother us while Millennium comes over!" Skipping into a hug, she excitedly chattered more about the event with obvious elation.

Giggling at their friend's giddiness, Tristan and Serenity replied simultaneously, "Yup! No creepers breathing down our necks tonight!"

The trio continued in laughter and idle conversation, ignoring teacher's calls of annoyance to hurry along.

"Uh, oh guys. Slut alert!" Serenity whispered, seeing an undesirable and her groupie strutting provocatively in six inch heels and outfits that would make a nun scream 'Satan will come for you bitches!' Holding in more laughter, the trio bit their tongues and sauntered by slowly.

However, as fate, or a rich slut with more boob than brain would have it, they were stopped and stared down for another round of bullying. "Oh look! It's the freak that can't see! The idiot with a sword for hair! And a pitiful looking whore wannabe!"

Her groupie, looking bored, decided to interrupt, "Who cares about those losers?! Like, have you seen that totally HOT new transfer student?"

Momentarily, distracted, Tea swerved to respond, somehow not tripping over her gigantic heels. "The one with black hair and green eyes? Didn't he transfer from some pretentious school, or like, something?"

With wide eyes and stage whispering to his friends, Tristan couldn't help but remark on their surprisingly high-ish vocabulary. "Look guys! The dumbass, slut cougar knows the meaning of pretentious!"

"What was that?"

Hands on their hips, the girls glared as if their eyes could kill. Not wanting to stick around, the brunette boy screamed as he took Yugi's hand before running off. "It's ANGRY!" (A/N: If you've seen either Steve Erwin or Gabriel Iglesias, you'd understand this reference.)

Together, Yugi and her friends sprinted down the halls blindly trying to evade Tea and her groupie with their heels poised as weapons above their heads. Somewhere along the way, Yugi was torn from Tristan's hand and turned a corner on accident. Panicking, she continued running as the harsh bangs against the ground sounded closer and closer. _Oh gosh! A blind girl can't run! Where do I-_

SLAM!

"Whoops! You okay there?"

Yugi froze. She was in the arms of someone distinctively tall, male, and had a hauntingly familiar voice. "I- I'm fine! Th- thank you?" She stammered nervously, exiting his awkward embrace. "Who may you be?"

"I'm-"

"So YOU'RE the new transfer student!" _Click, click, click_. The sound of heels padding loudly signaled the arrival of no one other than, dun, _dun, DUN! _Tea! "Hi, I'm Tea" Cue wink!

The unknown savior pushed Yugi aside gently, and if she could see, she would've witnessed the boy bowing respectively towards the brunette. "Duke Devlin at your service ma'am. I just transferred here from Nightingale Academy."

"Wow! Isn't that like a rich kid school?" She asked dumbly, her voice getting annoyingly higher and higher the more she checked out the newcomer. However limited her brain could function, she still noticed the little tri-color haired girl huddled into the transfer's side. Putting on a sexy smile (or so she thinks! *cough*), she moved closer to Duke, chest out, eyes narrowed. She purred, "Why don't you leave that freak here alone? You know, so you can hang out with a real woman like me. I could show you a REALLY good time."

Yugi, becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the position Duke was put in, tried to speak up. "I-"

"Well, when you put it that way…" He murmured, his voice turning husky, "I refuse. This 'FREAK' is the reason why I transferred here." Duke said coldly. "She is a great friend to me and I don't appreciate sluts like you degrading such a wonderful person. So you can just shove your ego up your ass and go to hell!" Wrapping an arm around the small girl, he turned her around and strode furiously away from the dumbstruck brunette. "Ironic because she'd probably like that, right Yugi?"

Breathing a sigh of relief, Yugi laughed. Now that Duke would be by her side at her own school now, she felt comforted. Another thing to look forward to especially when she had intimidating parents to go home to. But what she didn't count on was the fact that Duke somehow managed to be in every SINGLE one of her classes. According to him, smarts, good looks, and money can get you anything from a female counselor. Throughout the day, he left the same impression on EVERYONE at school, a mixture of awe, envy, and even admiration. The fuzzy feeling of being stared at magnified as she walked down the halls with him and made her shiver violently. Crowds parted for them, and even her teachers were less cruel just by his mere presence. A good thing or a bad thing, she didn't know but all she did know was her excitement for after school never waned. As the seconds ticked by, numerous times she called on her raven-haired sidekick for the time and how much more was left till school let out. Amused by her blatant anticipation, he more than happily obliged to her.

RING!

With the sound of the bell, Yugi immediately jolted from her seat and launched into the overcrowded hall, her walking stick beating harshly and irregularly rapid against the floor. Duke, following behind silently, held a smile upon his face, one that made each girl swoon as he passed. Multiple times, he had to prevent the girl from tripping over her own feet and into others until they reached the safety in the wide-open spaces of outside the school. There, they met up with an all too familiar duo.

"Hey Yugi baby!"

Grinning, she replied, "Hey Tristan, hey Serenity!"

"How'd you know I was here Yugi?"

"Ah, ah, ah! A magician can't reveal her secrets!" She said coyly. "Haha! Hey! Did you hear about me and Duke's confrontation with Tea and her groupie?" Considering Serenity had the whole gossip system wrapped around her pinky finger, it wouldn't come to a surprise if she already knew.

However, Tristan beat her to the punch, somehow knowing how girl gossip worked. "No way! You really said that to Tea?! Man, your first day here and you're already screwing with the higher ups, you've got some guts brother-in-law!"

"Yeah Yugi! You scored big time! A fiancé who's actually got some guts around here!" Winking, she put her arms around the younger blushing girl. "I think, though he's almost a total stranger, he's worth it huh, Yugi?"

The raven-haired boy stiffened, knowing full well that they were speaking about him and their secret engagement. With stoic fear, he turned quietly faced the group; his face the epitome of a failing mask of hastily disguised uncertainty. "What are you-?"

"Don't worry dear," Yugi said with a cheerful smile. Reaching forward to Duke's general direction, her hand met the smooth skin of his cheek and stroked it with her thumb; releasing comfort in her touch. "I told them. They know and understand _everything._"

Slightly relieved at her choice of understanding friends, he shook off the mask and returned to his normal charming self. "Well alright then. If you trust them, I trust them." He pulled off Yugi's hand from his face and held it between his fingers. Timidly, he drew her towards him into a hug. "So, shall I drive you home? I already called Solomon."

"But what about my friends? Aren't they coming with us?"

"Oh no, don't worry Yugi." Tristan interrupted. "I've got things to do, so I'll be late. I'm taking Serenity home as well." Catching the change of his voice at the end of his sentence and the awkward moment that followed, Yugi didn't even have to guess that the brunette boy and her sister-friend were blushing madly. It was obvious; they had encountered an odd confrontation between each other maybe even before they met up with her and Duke.

Saving the day, Duke responded with friendly zeal, "Then it's settled! We'll see you guys tonight eventually!" And with that, he led the younger blonde away, leaving the other two in alone in their private thoughts.

Sporting a red convertible, Duke opened the door for Yugi with butler-like fashion and helped her. As they drove to Yugi's mansion, they sang along and laughed with the radio blasting. Carefree luster were their companions as they screeched and waved their arms around and about. The wind joined them in their outrageous dance, flowing across and kissing their skin in a mute harmony. Glancing from the driver's seat, Duke reveled in the joy and blatant excitement radiating from Yugi it was contagious. No sooner, they had reached the mansion in record time due to Duke's speed and surprisingly accurate skills on the road. Out of the corner of his eye though, he spotted a black limo gleaming lazily from they way they came. Grinning, he escorted his fiancé from the car straight to the music room. Waiting there were Jaden and Chazz under the close watch of the ever-faithful Solomon. Together, they settled into an easy chatter as they patiently waited for the band to arrive.

_Ding, dong._

"I'll get it Lady Yugi." Stepping deftly through the maze of rooms and hallways, Solomon made his way to the grand oak door. Looking through the peephole, he spotted an unusually large group of teenagers, all wearing the inconspicuous dress of a 'normal teenager'. However, since he had seen them only three nights before, he knew these were the people to allow in. Cautiously, he opened the door and stepped aside." Welcome to the Motou Household. Right this way please."

However, as Millennium stepped through the door, their mouths drop in awe. They thought their own house was grand, they were gravely mistaken. Each room they passed held the splendor of a modern age king. Marble pillars lined the walls, glass tables and white and black leather couches were littered neatly in almost every room. Stainless steel fixtures and sculptures stood stoically staring out to the new guests and lights so soft, and pure emitted rays of angelic feel. But it felt too grand. Each object was grand in monetary value but it didn't feel like a home. Not one like they had imagined for the small girl they barely met anyway.

"Don't worry. You get used to it." The butler murmured. "Even I was a little surprised by Lady Yugi's stepmother's modern taste in décor."

"Step?" Bakura asked surprising the band. They knew he was one not to pry or even get into the private affairs of others, well, at least pry openly. "Are her parents divorced?"

Turning away from the group, he responded gravely, the weight of his words resonating slightly through the empty halls. "No. She passed when My Lady was young. A shame, her mother was very talented." And without another word, he turned on his heels and swiftly strode to their destination in a stooped depressing manner. Turning into a butler fit for Dracula instead of the stoic grandfather-like gentleman they had met at the door.

Sharing a look, the band mates followed warily behind the old man through the maze of wonders. After an almost endless wonderings, the butler stopped abruptly at a lonely door tucked away in the farther edges of the mansion. A door the color of pure white marble stood in front of them, releasing sounds of muffled conversation and laughter.

"Here we are. This is Lady Yugi's music room. Ring the bell if you require anything." Opening the door, the band once more fell into awe. Pearl white leather couches rested away from an ink-stained piano and was surrounded by three thick walls of shining glass. In the mind of the young violet-eyed singer, he spotted the falling sunset as though they were apart of the outside world.

Slowly, Yami took in the scene before him. Seated at the grand piano was the grinning girl he secretly wished to see, to hear her sing again. Smiling, he strode forward only to freeze as he glanced at stranger seated beside her. He was raven-haired and held a gaze of glowing green orbs impossibly dizzying to look at. By the reactions of his female band mates, he could tell by their standards he was gorgeous. Jealousy rose in the pit of his stomach, tainting his thoughts with unnecessary violence. But in seeing the bright smile Yugi was wearing, he pushed it down and took it like a man.

Duke rose from the bench, not noticing the group's entrance. "Hey Yugi, I need to take this call. I'll be back in a bit alright?"

"Sure, just close the door on your way out. Don't want to disturb anyone!" She giggled as her friend passed by the band nonchalantly and without the crazy fan acknowledgment they were used to. "Oh you guys are here! Thank you Jii-chan!" Smiling even brighter, she greeted the newcomers who looked like a pack of lost puppies. ""Hi guys! Just make yourself comfortable anywhere."

Awkwardly, they spread out across the room, seating themselves lazily across the furniture. Seto sat away from the pack, fiddling around on his laptop with Joey seated at his feet smiling goofily while the rest of the couples planted themselves in a familiar gesture of affection. Yami, the loner, took a seat next to Yugi, blushing at his apparent lack of a girlfriend.

Stretching out like a cat, Yugi addressed the group in a professional manner. "So, what's our first order of business guys?"

Nervously, Yami responded, his band mates isolating them for the moment. "Well the debut of 'Hero' is next week's concert in Tokyo and we want to show you what we've come up with."

"Okay, show me then."

At this, Bakura and Marik's heads shot up at attention. "Uhh, but we left the instruments at home…"

Suddenly, a voice yet to reach puberty stepped in. "Instruments are behind you bros."

The band whipped their heads around, except Seto too preoccupied with his isolation device, and find Jaden and Chazz lounging across a couch on the far side of the glass room. Shrugging, they stood once again and prepared for their unofficial performance.

The rolling and crashing of guitars filled the room like a storm. Rising and falling like the waves of a dangerous storm. The beat of the drums boomed like an unsteady earthquake, making way to an uncanny revolution. Rasping and singing like that of a male siren, Yami enchanted all who occupied the room. No one escaped their spell drawing them nearer and nearer. Passion overflowed the band members. They were no longer in a wondrous music room. They were in nirvana; playing to the dance of their inner souls. No world existed but theirs as they synchronized their sounds and their hearts into the song created just for them. Dripped in sweat and tears of an intense emotion, they rode on with the wind of their inspiration; leaving behind the blind girl to helplessly sit back and hear them as they sing. Yugi listened as they freed themselves into the melodies and harmonies of her own longing for the 'hero' she imagined. She dropped her head back, relentlessly falling into their musical trap. Colors overflowed her black world, flowing along with the fast pace of the song and dissipating eagerly as the song came to an end.

For a moment, she remained still, savoring the song with her ears before she clapped along with her brother and his girlfriend-to-be. "Great job guys! Perfect vocals!"

"You really think so?" A blushing Yami asked nervously, the adrenaline still flowing through him. His eyes glistened as he gazed at Yugi. She still wore the bulky glasses from the night they met, but he still found a breathless beauty in her. Simple yet complex, maybe beneath the cover of her eyes. Steadily, he made his way back to her, gently sitting beside her. _Wait, I hardly know her, get a grip on yourself man!_

"Of course! But Bakura cut the guitar solo in the beginning short. It's WAY too long!"

Angered by her comment, the white-haired boy tensed. "Hey! Look SHRIMP- Owww Ryou!" He screeched as his girlfriend assaulted him with her elbow in his gut. To deep into his rage, he didn't notice the uncontrollable laughter Jaden and Chazz were trying to conceal. The affairs of the older intrigued them, especially if the dominant was put in their place by the weaker.

Still blindly looking in a general direction, she said confidently, "Other than that, the song is what I hoped it would sound like. Thank you guys!"

"Well, you did write the lyrics." Yami sputtered.

"Well, I just-"

"Hey Yugi!" Just then, Duke entered again. "Sorry for taking so long. It was one of the game shop franchises. Apparently, there was something wrong with one of the systems but turns out it was just dust build-up. What a rookie mistake, I swear! Oh!" Finally catching sight of the band, he greeted them graciously with a bow of respect. "Hello, welcome!"

"Who's the pretty boy?" Bakura retorted, still clutching the guitar.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Duke Devlin. Good friend to Yugi Motou and archrival to Jaden in videogames. Nice to meet you all."

"Well, pretty boy. Leave. We have work to finish."

Ignoring Bakura's harsh remark, Duke strode towards Yugi and wrapped an arm protectively around her. Yami, visibly jealous, scooted his chair closer to the piano in vain to remain in Yugi's line of sight. (A/N: little does he know!)

"Nope! I'm fine old man!" Duke replied.

"Bakura! Leave him alone!" Ryou interrupted before her boyfriend could react. Playfully but forcefully, she jabbed her arm into his stomach and in answer she received grumbles and mutterings of defeat. "This isn't your house."

Giggling, Yugi directed their attention to the task at hand. Turning to Yami's general direction, she asked, "So, do you have any other material that I can work on?"

"Well, no-"

"Umm. Do you think you could read this?" The white haired girl shyly asked. With her hands shaking, she pulled out a folded paper and offered it to the girl at the piano. Immediately seeing the danger in this, Chazz stood abruptly and plucked the paper out of Ryou's hand. She walked carefully around her and made her way to Yugi and Duke. Both reading silently the contents of the paper to the blind girl, they tried inconspicuously to keep her secret hidden.

"Hmmm…. Chazz, can you join me in this one?" Without another word of approval, Yugi sang quietly. Then slowly, like the gentle tides of the ocean waves, her voice rose above the others. Captivating every one as they suddenly silenced their conversations. The girls together created something so melodic, so innocently pure; the outside world seemed to have come to a standstill just to hear them. Like the night she first sang with Yami, she fell into her darkness with ease. This time though, she wasn't afraid. She felt the comforting embrace of the one she wanted to see for so long, to trace the contours of his face for another final time. A burst of hope filled her as the song came to a soft end. The arms that held her released her with a slight reassuring push; 'we will meet again' those crimson eyes spoke as they disappeared into the abyss. Silence met them after she and Chazz closed the somber melody with one elongated note; ringing until it had become almost nonexistent. Tears filled her eyes, this simple beauty she encountered her stirred the hidden sorrow and inner demons she had so long ago forced down. "That was beautiful Ryou."

Blushing madly, Ryou looked up from here embarrassment. "Really?" Yami wrapped an arm around the red-faced girl in wordless encouragement, knowing she would understand. "Thank you."

"If its not too much trouble." Duke said rising from his seat. He strode purposefully towards the instruments and selected an old, beaten guitar. Signs of everyday wear tinted its dark mahogany colored wood as it glistened tiredly in the bright light. "I kind of have an idea on what beat the song could be sung with."

"Yea right! Gamers know only what gamers know Pretty Boy!" Bakura spat, clearly unappeased by the fact more outside help was intruding even more than what he deemed necessary.

"Shut up Bakura!" Curiously, the tri-color haired singer turned to Duke. He measured him through his steady gaze, finally when his curiosity got the best of him; he called on the raven-haired boy. "So? Show us your idea."

Strumming gently at the strings, chords of an easy melody bursted forth, one so simple and repetitive, it soothed the burdened soul. Throughout it was unchanging, but soon, passion flew as it cresendoed; still playing the same rhythm. Many across the room, save Seto still oblivious, sighed in content as it lightly touched their inner peace.

When Duke finished, Yami sneered pointed at his fellow band mate. ""I think you should retract that earlier comment Bakura!"

"…"

"We should call it 'The Messenger'" Malik suggested. "All in favor?!"

"AY!" The group yelled.

Laughing at their group approval, Yugi felt something nagging her in the back of her mind. She replayed the song with its new beat altogether with her voice. Then she replaced her singing with Yami's voice and immediately found the problem. _'His voice it TOO deep for the song! It requires someone with a raspy tune. _Listening to the band around her, she analyzed how each could suit the song and found disappointment. Then, she heard one voice above the rest, the obvious choice despite his seemingly bitter attitude. "There's one problem though." She addressed Yami. "Well … It's just that the song feels as if it's meant for someone with a higher range. I mean no offense Yami, but your voice is too low for it . . ."

"But… But!"

"Oooh! Rejected!" Bakura shouted, screaming like a child delighted at an excitable toy.

Before any argument could erupt between the lead singer and the guitarist, Yugi intervened quickly. "I want Bakura to sing it!"

"Mande?!" (A/N: It's a form of 'what' in Spanish. Short for 'mandame' as in 'what do you need from me' or 'what me?' Rough translation and is lingo here in South Texas.)

"Come on Necromancy! Don't be a wimp!" Chazz and Duke shouted simultaneously. Jumping up and down and hooting like football players at a game, together they goaded the downcast white-haired band member till he reached his limit.

"I'm not a wimp Pretty Boy!"

"Then sing the damn song Necromancy!" Duke spat back.

Standing abruptly, Bakura prepared himself for a fight. His body tensed, waiting for the other male to provoke him. To the others watching, it looked like two lions fighting over the last scrap of meat. "Look Pretty Boy! I don't take lightly to-"

"Please Bakura! For me!" Ryou said as she gripped his sleeve lightly and batted her brown, doe-like at her boyfriend. Secretly, in the back of her mind, Ryou knew Bakura would sing; no one could resist her doe eye attack. "I want to hear you sing my song…"

Failing to resist her unfair assault, the guitarist turned away red-faced and strode out of her grip towards the acoustic in Duke's waiting hands. After a few moments of vocal preparation and guitar tuning, Bakura swerved and faced the rest of the group, still blushing slightly.

_When you feel you're alone, _

_Cut off from this cruel world,_

_Your instincts telling you to run._

_Listen to your heart! _

_Those angel voices!_

_They'll sing to you,_

_They'll bring you right back home!_

_When life leaves us blind,_

_Love keeps us kind! _

_It keeps us kind…._

_When you've suffered enough,_

_And your spirit is breaking,_

_You're growing desperate from the fight. _

_Remember you're loved,_

_And you always will be._

_This melody will bring you right back home._

_When life leaves us blind, _

_Love keeps us kind._

_When life leaves us blind, _

_Love keeps us kind!_

_Ohhhhhh,_

_Ohhhhhh,_

_Ohhhhhhhh._

Blushing madly, Bakura stubbornly refused to face his audience. Strumming the last note tenderly, he resumed avoiding their stares and glared murderously at the floor. "Ummm... I'm done now!"

"That was beautiful!" The girls of the band squealed sobbingly. All three looking like huge eyed chibis crying over-exaggerated streams of tears down their cheeks. "Don't you think so Yugi?"

"I told you so Marik! Can't believe you doubted my mad skills! Just kidding!" Yugi cried cheerfully at the crazy haired blonde to bring him out of his moody bubble and into the immediate conversation.

Glaring, he responded from his resting place on the couch, loosely stretching as he spoke. "Fine, you win this one short stuff! I'll just stay below you as your lowly subject of your awesomeness! Please teach me your all powerful skill! Ha, yea that was pretty good. What do you think Yams?"

"I admit, it was VERY good. A wonderful performance by our resident death metal rocker now turned acoustic hippie!" His voice cracked hoarsely in laughter. Yami couldn't help it; Bakura was so red and embarrassed that the psychotic serial killer look was almost worth insulting him for.

"Do- don't patronize me! You'll regret it!"

Joey, rising from her spot next to Seto, skipped merrily towards the white haired man. Circling him teasingly, she proceeded to annoy him in his suffering with her Jersey accent slipping slightly. "I'm patronizing you! What will you do to a girl like me? Haha! You can't do anything cuz I'm a girl! That and Seto will kill you with his suing skills until you're less than penniless!"

"She's not wrong!"

"Grrrr…. You suck Seto!"

Sneaking up behind Bakura, Duke glomped him half-heartily as he pet the white haired man's wild tangles like that of a small kitten. Mockingly, he added to the fire teasing the man more. "Don't worry Fluffy! I'll only post it on YouTube after you've performed it live! Then Yugi and I will sell merchandise of it! Posters, cup holders, body pillows. . . And we'll make millions off of you!"

"That's it! You messed with the wrong guitarist Pretty Boy!" Swiftly, he reached behind him where he placed the acoustic. Holding it high above his head, he resembled an avenging muse, hell-bent on wrecking havoc on the other insignificant inspiring muses. However, Duke struck the last cord in his self control. He would HIT this BOY with the guitar if it was the last thing he did. "You're going down!" And with that he swung mightily at Duke-

Amused, Jaden interrupted the scene in front of him as though he were watching TV and pressing the 'pause' button. "You break it you buy it. That's an antique and it's worth more than you and your life Fluffy!"

Stopping in mid-swing, Bakura turned his head to the brunette lounging in the farther corner of the room. With his eye-twitching, he, though already probably already knowing the answer, asked cautiously. "How much more?"

"Like, even if you were some badass thief with a huge bounty on just for your toes, you still couldn't even top that."

"You heard them Necromancy! Put the guitar down or you'll end up selling yourself to slavery!" Duke chuckled smugly.

"No!" Jaden cried suddenly, a brilliant idea taking form in his head decided to make itself known. "Keep calling him fluffy! He hates it!"

In reply to the comment, Bakura shot daggers at each and every one the people in the room laughing hysterically at the younger Motou's wit. _'I'm not supposed to be the center of attention right now! I'm supposed to be watching the girl! Which by the way, where is she? _Glancing around the room ignoring every one else's snide joke at him, he spotted Yugi quietly rooted to her place at the piano bench. Now that he thought about it, the girl hadn't moved from there in such a long time. She just sat there aloof and appeared to be mirroring when everyone else would laugh. _And why was she still wearing those freakishly huge glasses? _Strange… _I'll keep a close eye on her; I just have to be discreet about it._

Bored by all the bantering and joking, Chazz nudged Jaden silently, hoping not to disturb the conversation. "I'm bored. Can we play the Xbox?"

"Nope." Scratching his head and blushing, he wanted to make a good impression on her. "The Xbox broke last week, so we're out of luck there. Unless. . . . You brought your cards?"

Shooting up in excitement, she practically dragged the brunette out of the room playfully. "Yea I brought them. Let's duel!" And with that, they exited unnoticeably out of the glass walled wonder room; however, knowing Jaden's footsteps, Yugi knew her brother had gone.

The others still oblivious to the younger's disappearance, still continued on until all the jokes in the world had been used to make fun of the poor white-haired man and their conversation was left to awkward chuckles and snickers. But, two blondes had one idea that would satisfy the quickly becoming bored group.

"Let's play video games!" Marik and Joey shouted, both posing as though they had massive guns pointed at each other and at any moment either could be obliterated.

"But Kuriboh said their Xbox broke." Yami said fuming.

Duke, listening in, took his hand off of Bakura's head and silently stepped back to Yugi at the piano bench. "Hey Yugi. I have my PS3 in the back of my car. Can I plug it in at the lounge?" He spoke loudly; making sure the others could hear and snap a spaced-out Yugi back into the present. During the duration of the band's visit, the girl had become suspiciously withdrawn.

Smiling brightly, she responded to her fiancé's request. "Go for it! You practically live here!"

Suddenly, a weird, awkward silence fell into the room. The band members stared hard and curiously at the two huddled together. They all knew of Yami's unconscious attraction to the young girl so another man in the equation was… undesirable. Yami, attempting to break the silence, spoke. "Umm . . . You guys aren't dating are-"

However, Duke, excited and oblivious, jumped up and fist pumped in the air. Taking no notice of the suspicious glares and Yami's comment, he continued on. "Yes! Black Ops here I come!" Glancing at the band, he offered them a chance to play. And with a chorus of 'Hell yeas', they followed Yugi and Duke to the lounge; another spacious room filled with white, black, and silver modern furniture. A crystal chandelier hung neatly high above them, twinkling calmly and emitting yet another subtle, ethereal light into the room. A huge flat screen TV loomed before them, reflecting each and every one who entered. They all seated themselves on the surprisingly comfortable leather couches around the TV and waited until Duke finished setting up the game system. Four assumed power over the controllers and played competitively against each other. Duke, Yami, Marik, and Bakura hunched over their handhelds and stared murderously at the screen as if the figures would at one moment jump out and into reality. Round after round, they continued till they sighed into a comfortable break.

Yami, spotting Yugi looking forlornly at the screen from her seat on the floor, pushed her gently with all the affection he could muster in his touch. "Hey Yugi, do you want to play as well? You can take my controller if you want." Smiling, he held the controller in front of him waiting for an answer.

"Umm... No... It's ok. I don't know how to play. Plus there's no room on the couch for me to sit." Nervously the girl twisted a lock of her wild, curling purple hair between her fingers. She "looked" up at Yami, and grinned sheepishly, "I'm bad at videogames anyway. I would just ruin all the fun."

The singer blushed slightly as Yugi responded hesitantly. Now more than ever, he wanted to teach, say, or do anything for the girl he barely met. "It's ok; I can make room on the couch. I'll even teach you how to play! Come on! We all sucked at one point so we wouldn't hold it against you."

"Oh no please. It's alright. I-"

And for what seemed like the hundredth time, Duke interrupted once more, annoying others and rescuing Yugi. "Oh no you don't! You're not getting out of this one Yug!" With uncharacteristic grace, he rose from his seat on the couch and swept her up off the floor. The black-haired boy ignored the looks and shouts he received from Yugi, Yami, and fellow gamers as he momentarily blocked the screen. He nimbly made his way back to his vacant seat and sat Yugi on his lap. "Now put your hands on mine and let the master show you how it's done!" He said with an impish grin on his face.

Yugi now knowing she had no other choice but to comply, placed her slim, pale fingers over Duke's and smiled affectionately as she muttered a playful jibe. However, this was not missed by the violet-eyed singer. Narrowing his eyes, he rose to the challenge of "the master" of videogames. "The master, huh? We'll see about that!"

As the same four played another round along with the addition of Yugi, they each found themselves absorbed with the obsession of competition. The men sat stonily and sometimes cried out in victory when an awesome kill was executed or groaned in despair when their plans failed and ended in death. Shots rang out, grenades boomed, and the clang of metal on metal cried out into the room, making Yugi jump at each loud noise. Only Duke, her emotional anchor, kept her from blindly fleeing the room. Despite her slightly frightened state, Duke and Yugi were victorious and smugly beat Bakura's nearly perfect score.

"What the F %&!" Bakura screamed in rage. "DAMN YOU PRETTY BOY!"

"Don't be jealous Fluffy. It's not my fault you have no skill! Besides, jealousy is very unbecoming on the mind don't ya think?" And with a wink, he turned back to Yugi.

"I'm not done with you yet Pretty Boy! Another round!"

Yugi, giggling, replied crudely. "Eww disgusting! We are in public Bakura and who knew you batted for the other team?! Ryou will be very unhappy!" (A/N: personal joke between me and a friend of mine.)

"Haha good one Yugs!" Duke chuckled.

Bakura, however, didn't find it amusing. He was though, surprised that such a crude remark could leave the mouth of an innocent-looking girl, it almost left him speechless. "Shut up!"

While Yugi and Bakura were jabbing at each other, Duke started another round and hatched up a mischievous plan. "Ok babe, you're on your own!" Swiftly, he slipped his hands out from under Yugi's and made sure hers were secured onto the small black controller and placed them onto her hips.

"WHAT? NOOO!"

With that, the match started and left Yugi startled. Even though Duke was trying to speak directions quietly into her ear, she was pressing buttons insanely and had no clue what to do! Who could blame her? _There's a reason blind people don't play videogames, _she thought. In her character's wild shooting, she managed to shoot down Marik's and Yami's avatars once but was killed a multitude of times in the duration of the match.

"Wow. . . Yugi, you suck at video games." Duke said.

Shaking her head, she shoved the controller back into Duke's waiting hands. Adjusting her glasses further up the bridge of her nose, she sighed heavily. "I told you didn't I."

"But at least you got two kills. . ." Ryou said sympathetically.

"You mean, even though I suck at this, I still get two lucky shots right?" Yugi replied breezily and was met with silence, confirming what she had claimed was true.

"Why lie? Yes you suck Yugi. Can Ryou and I play too Duke?" Malik said calmly.

"Sure. Just let me connect two more controllers and I'll give mine up to Joey." Gently, he lifted Yugi off of him and into his now unoccupied spot on the couch. Duke turned to find Joey seated on the floor in front of him munching on chips, more than likely provided by Seto. "Here Joey, play for a bit. Meanwhile, I'll keep Seto over there company." He said smiling as he made his way towards the manager silently fiddling with his phone. Together, they faded into idle conversation and stared into their own isolation devices (A/N: isolation devices are what my teacher calls portable electronics; iPods', phones, mp3's, etc.).

"Let's have a tournament! Band members, are we all in?" Bakura declared excitedly. And without waiting for an answer he yelled out impatiently, "Alright, two man teams! Here's the match ups!"

**Team Match Ups:**

**Psychos with Guns- Tomb Robber (Bakura) and Tomb Keeper (Marik)**

**Sharp Shooters- Hikari (Ryou) and Violet Rose (Malik)**

**Pharaoh's Throne- Pharaoh (Yami) and Puppy Love (Joey)**

"We're all set! Ready! Start!"

_In the Video Game_

_Pharaoh stood alert hidden behind the walls of an abandoned building. Somewhere hidden in the Spanish mansion were the two enemy squads, the infamously insane Psychos with Guns and the stealth duo Sharp Shooters; all with the goal of killing and remaining the last one standing. Silently, he signaled his partner, Puppy Love, to move forward and scope out ahead. With her M14 firmly in hand, she treaded softly in front of him and-_

_BAM BAM BAM!_

_Suddenly, they were assaulted by an array of bullets and driven back into the room they held shelter in. Pharaoh and Puppy Love crouched on either side of the door way, returning fire as best they could but no matter what, the sounds of gunfire never ceased. Instead, it became rapidly louder and closer. _

"_Puppy Love, let's make a run for it! You take one way and I'll take the other! We'll meet up outside by the old rusted car. On three. One."_

"_Two"_

"_Three!"_

_They parted separately, shooting over their shoulders occasionally for safety measures. Pharaoh took the long way out, making himself a moving target in order to ensure that his partner made it out alive. Swerving through the maze of rooms and courtyards, he finally exited the building and spotted Puppy Love in position behind the rusted truck. He sprinted across the lawn as the gunfire tailing him sounded once more and threateningly becoming impossible to lose. Pharaoh nearly collided into the truck next to his partner; he rolled onto his knees and aimed at the doorway he came from. _

"_Let's take these bastards down Pharaoh!"_

"_Took the words out my mouth!"_

"_Ready? Go go go-!"_

_Blood sprayed in front of him as Puppy Love fell dead in front of him. Confused, he rose swiftly only to be shot down by his enemy, Tomb Robber, shooting wildly with his beloved MT 40. Not long after, Tomb Keeper ran out from behind him and shot mercilessly at Pharaoh even though he was already dead. _

"_Nice work, eh Tomb Keeper? Bastard didn't see us coming!"_

"_Neither did the hussy working with him. Robber, let's continue on before-!" _

_A single shot rang out, and caused deathly silence. In front of Tomb Robber lay his comrade, killed by a headshot. Swiftly he hid in the back of the truck and scanned the area around him. His blood ran cold as he spotted his enemy hiding in the trees. The Sharp Shooters, stationed a mile out, had their sniper rifles pointed at him. Any sudden movement he made could be his last; he had to choose wisely. Shoot or flee. _

"_Shoot. What the hell, I have nothing to lose; these chicks have nothing on me." _

_As promised, he threw out his gun and pulled the trigger. And was shot dead before the bullet could leave his gun. _

"_Well that was a success! Wouldn't you say so Violet Rose?"_

"_I dare say I would call it a success Hikari! Hold up! There's one more squad out there. Who names their team the Rich Bitches?"_

"_I dunno. Let's go own their asses!" _

"_Right! Hikari, you go east and I'll-! Crap! Gunfire! Run!"_

_The duo ran due east, abandoning their original plan and flew into the building out of firing range. They regrouped, reloaded, and prepared for action. Cautiously, they sneaked through the building, Violet rose in the rear and Hikari as point; avoiding windows and exposed areas carefully._

"_Who the F #& was that Violet?"_

"_I have no idea, but- . . . Dude, are those dogs?"_

"_F #& yes! Shoot them all down!"_

_Back to back, they took down the dogs one by one until there was none left. Breathing heavily, they leaned against a pillar for a momentary reprieve. However, they didn't get to rest for very long before shots rang out again. _

"_God damnit! Run Violet! I'll take north, you go west!"_

"_Wait no! That's a land-!" An explosion rocked the area, sending large amounts of dirt and debris everywhere and ruthlessly took the lives of the Sharp Shooters. Fire and charred earth was left in its wake, leaving an end to the game and the other squads except the victors; the Rich Bitches._

Back to Reality

"Mine." Malik said sullenly as the TV screen read 'Defeated by the Rich Bitches- Devil's Eye and Blue-eyed Destroyer'. "Who the hell are these bastards? I'm gonna wring their necks!"

Interrupting Malik's tirade, Duke coughed loudly, bringing the attention to all unto him. "You owe me for those dogs. Do you know how hard it is to hack into the system, rewire the game play, and program them from your phone?" Laughing, he turned back to Seto who was still fiddling with his isolation devices. "Great idea on the landmine bro! I didn't think you had it in you!"

Shrugging, Seto smirked. "I game once in a while."

"Well you keep doing that!" High fiving the blue-eyed creep, he fell back into his seat as the doorbell rang.

"Oh well. I'll just go and get that." Solomon said. Somewhere along the tournament, he reappeared and was entertained by the youngster's idea of fun.

"No, no, Solomon. I'll get it!" Duke said rising from his seat and softly pushing the old man into a comfortable chair. "Besides, if I'm going to do a hostile takeover I might as well make the locals get used to my face!" Cheery and oblivious to the unbelieving stares he was receiving, Duke winked and strode out of the lounge to the awaiting, unknown visitor.

"That boy is really something. It's nice that he gave me a break from my job though. My aching feet. . ."

Narrowing his eyes, Bakura voiced what the other members were thinking. "Yes he is. You guys seem REALLY CLOSE Yugi. Are you guys together?"

Unbeknownst to Yugi, but clearly visible to everyone else, Yami became very agitated and red with anger. He clenched and unclenched his hands, waiting fearfully for an answer from the silent girl.

"No! Of course not! We're-!"

"Childhood friends!" Solomon interrupted abruptly. "They've known each other since grade school and still kept in touch when Duke left to America when he was nine!" He pulled out a large manila envelope from an unknown pocket in his jacket and offered it to the closest band member near him, which happened to be Bakura and Yami. "Look at these! This was young Duke's seventh birthday!"

"Jii-Chan!" Yugi cried. After the mysterious pictures were handed off to Bakura and Yami, he sneaked ninja-like over to Yugi who was now isolated from the group.

"Whoa! Pretty Boy had braces?!" Bakura exclaimed.

Joey peeked over the white-haired man's shoulder and laughed at her discovery. "And he looked fifty times better then you Fluffy! You looked like you had oversized train tracks across your face!"

Making sure no one was listening, Solomon tapped Yugi's shoulder, signaling her to whisper whatever she was inquiring about. "Solomon, where did you get those photos?! We barely met last week!" She hissed barely audibly.

Though Yugi's whispering was almost silent as a breeze, the old man still hadn't lost his hearing. Especially since he needed it to know when he could sneak desserts when the master's of the house were around. "But with the way you two act, it looks more personal than you intend. Plus, Photoshop works wonders!"

The door burst open suddenly, revealing Duke and the surprise visitor none other than Tristan. He and the green-eyed gamer were still deeply involved in their conversation to take much notice that they intruded on everyone else's.

"Hostile takeover?! Bro I'm in! When do we start Duke?"

Clapping his hand onto the brunette's back, he chuckled before continuing. "Today! First, we must get everyone accustomed to our faces! Which, I know you already have covered. Then we kidnap Yugi and hold her for ransom, when in reality, she's in on the gig too!"

"Sounds like a plan!" And with that, they sealed their 'plan' with that guy's only handshake and laughing off their ridiculousness.

"So how come you were late to your first meeting? Met up with a girl, huh?" Duke inquired jokingly.

Yugi, glad to hear her best friend arrived, responded to Duke's directness. "Come one Duke! Don't grill the guy with questions, he's a convert!"

"True! Since you have a motorcycle I shall forgive this insubordinate action! Tristan you are hereby forgiven!"

"Haha it's cool! I actually just got off of work just now!"

Yami, becoming bored of picture looking and relieved of the relationship status of Yugi and Duke, politely inserted himself into the conversation. "Where do you work?"

Tristan, too happy to answer, replied happily. "A repair shop downtown called Hyper Drive. The name's pretty cool, and the pay's good! Don't tell the school though! Students aren't supposed to have jobs."

"Hyper Drive?" Duke said slowly. The color in his face drained into a deathly pallor, his hands shook, and sweat slipped down his brow. He propped himself against a couch to keep his unsteady legs from betraying him. The name of the repair shop brought up too many buried memories; all haunting behind the lids of his closed eyes each night he slept, all begging to be remembered.

"Yea!" Tristan continued, somehow oblivious to Duke's stressed reaction. "My boss is totally crazy! He has me working odd hours and not to mention he's extremely forgetful!"

"Doesn't sound like I'm going to call him for repairs anytime soon. . ." Bakura said sullenly. He recently crashed his beauty of a bike and was hoping for a good mechanic.

The brunette, however, came to his boss's defense. "He isn't that bad! When's he's working on cars and motorcycles, his passion comes out and he really does a great job on repairs! One time, this bike was totally demolished and he brought it back to life!" A light bulb lit over the boy's head. He reached into his pocket and pulled out two crushed business cards and handed them to Duke and Bakura. "If you happen to get a bike, he can tell you the best places for spare parts, I guarantee it! And if you stop by sometime for any questions, request my boss. His name is Bruno!"

**Author's Note:**

Heart: FINALLY DONE! YEAH I F #$%^& HATE MY LIFE!

Evil: No she doesn't. What she means is, she hates it when she gets sidetracked often. And so do I. . .

Heart: =.=… I'll get you later. Sorry if it's a little lengthy but I wanted to try it out. *shrug* Hope you guys liked it.

Evil: The videogame part was my idea! XD high five!

Heart: *high fives* belch! I realize, I have no time for my other fan fiction so that will have to wait until Sightless Music is done. T~T

Evil: It's alright. . . Sucks to be you! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  
Heart: o_= *twitch twitch* Nevermind, I'm going to kill you now! *Pulls out bat* Satan will come for you b*&^%!

Evil: You can try! *Pulls out light saber*

Both: Hope you enjoyed! We don't own anything but our souls! *epic battle royale begins*


	13. Chapter 13

_**Author's Note:**_

Heart: Hello again! Sorry we took a while with updating, Evil and I had exams to study for and take. We sincerely apologize and will try to update on a faster pace.

Evil: A very happy birthday to a guest who commented, 'loveyourfic'. The day you asked us to update the chapter on your birthday was the day we actually started the outline to it, so we're sorry. Because of it though, we dedicate this chapter to you and hope you enjoy it.

Heart: Enjoy! Give us your feedback, anything helps! Also, before I forget, visit my DeviantArt page for spoilers on how some of the characters will look later on in the story! My username is KyteLeonhart, no spaces, no numbers.

_Chapter 13: __First Dates_

The loud, treacherous screeching of the final bell resonating through the halls and classrooms awakening the life in the lifeless students rooted to their seats and to the outside world. With renewed vigor, those dreary desks and hallways filled up with chatter and tangible excitement melted into empty silence like the subtle breeze on the sunbathed trees. Yugi, holding the arm of her new companion Duke, treaded soundlessly matching each step of his to hers enjoying the steady sounds of departure and nature's dancing. Rustling branches and leaves saluted their goodbyes as the hustle and bustle of busy streets welcomed their entrance.

Their journey to Duke's car was a relatively uneventful trek, both lost in thought of the night's previous events. The mention of Bruno was surprising, especially shocking to the raven-haired boy who hadn't heard from his lover for what seemed like eons ago that he was reduced to an uncharacteristic, depressing and overbearing silence. The life in him was almost sucked out had it not been for Yugi. Throughout the day, though he hadn't spoken about his predicament, she comforted him in the only way she knew; encouraging words and soft gestures of friendship. It was limited to how she could comfort Duke but he didn't seem to mind. However, even as he helped her into the car, he still retained his suppressive silence. '_Enough is enough, I need to cheer him up somehow.' _Yugi thought.

Adjusting her glasses higher on the ridge of her nose, she steadied her hands and forced a smile. As teasingly and joyfully she could manage, she laughed and spoke to the still unresponsive boy in the passenger's seat. "That test in math was so hard! And to think, we still have a million more to take the rest of the week!"

"Hmm? Yeah?" Duke said sleepily. Sighing, he raised his brow at Yugi and grinned wearily. "Dear Ra, do I hate those tests. You'd think transferring to a school less prestigious than my former school would mean less work!?"

"You're telling me?" Yugi laughed. Comforted by Duke's effort to finally communicate with her, she continued on light-heartedly. "I heard you cursing under your breath the whole time!"

Together, they laughed somberly and gently as they drove by parks and building filled with people frivolously laughing without a care. Silence once again threatened to suffocate the two, driving a pike through their ease with each other. Yugi shivered uneasily, Duke was looking at her, she felt it. But it wasn't the normal warm, fuzzy feeling he gazed at her with, now, he looked at her with unsettling sorrow. '_Maybe… he wanted to talk about it, but didn't know how to bring it up_?' Yugi thought.

"Umm… Duke? Are you really okay? You know, with the whole Bruno thing?"

"Am I okay that he may possibly show up in my life again and be taken away in the blink of an eye?" Duke said bitterly. He sat silent for a moment, staring straight at the long road ahead of him deep in thought. He sighed, a heavy and weighted sigh and regained his composure. It wasn't Yugi's fault, it never was. "I'm not sure. It's been a year and a half since I last saw him and the mention of his name made me realize, I still love him. But I can't get him back. I'm stuck in my father's plans and his hate for my 'preferences' as he puts it. As much as I love the gaming industry and I don't even mind marrying you, but… I don't think I can handle the fact that it's not Bruno at my side. HE should be the one I'm speaking to about this. HE should've been the one to comfort me through this. I'm keeping you from going after what you truly want."

"No you're not Duke! You're-"

"Yugi. Stop. I may not be the whole reason, but I'm not stupid enough not to know your relationship with your parents at first sight." He said sternly. "I'm sorry if I'm bringing up unnecessary topics, I'm just upset and I don't want to make you worry Yugi. You do that enough, and sometimes I feel like you purposely help others to stop yourself from thinking about yourself. Trust me Yugi, I've told you everything, why can't you trust me?"

"I…" Yugi whispered hesitantly. "I don't want to inconvenience you. I'm not worth worrying about…" _Killer! Murderer! Go DIE you God-forsaken cripple! You're not my daughter anymore! You killed him! My boy, my only son! How could you!? Why, why, WHY!? _Numbly, she slumped in her seat, trying to ignore the voices screaming in her head. She covered her ears as though she could physically stop the voices, shaking she rocked in her seat. "I- ... Didn't-.. Mean to…"

"Yugi wake up! Yugi!"

The car came to an abrupt stop. Jolting Yugi out of her daymare and into the real world, where she was safe. Yugi sat upright, she felt the leather seat beneath her hands, her own gasping breath resonating throughout the car, and felt the fuzzy gaze of concern on her face. Soft skin encircled a hand above her ear and gentled pried it from her head.

"Yugi… Don't be afraid." Carefully, Duke embraced her awkwardly, as well as he could in a parked car. "I don't know what happened to you, or why you're scared of your parents, but know this. I will be waiting whenever and wherever you need me to listen. I won't force you nor will I ask anyone else like Tristan and Serenity. Now are you okay?"

His voice hushed against her ear oddly comforted her. Breaking her rigid stance, she hugged Duke back, knowing that without words she was fine. Yugi blinked back her tears and sat back as Duke released her lingering in the once more quiet conversation they spoke. '_What would I do without him by my side?_' she thought forlornly.

"Hey you know, I haven't properly thanked Solomon for saving me yesterday. You mind passing along the message little one?" Duke said smiling.

Feeling the smile in his voice, she grinned back in mischief. "I will! And last night was kinda funny if you think about it."

_Flashback_

"_Umm… Young Master? Are you feeling well?" Solomon asked hesitantly as he approached the raven-haired teen collapsed onto a couch away from the group. _

"_No Solomon, I feel like I've been punched in the gut…" Duke grumbled wearily. Like he said, he looked green in the face and his limps looked like jelly replaced them._

_Solomon, in mock horror, drew back in shock. Conspicuously loud, he cried out, "Did you eat the cookies in the kitchen?! That was Jaden's science project! Ohhh, I told the boy not to make something so harmless looking!"_

_Taking the hint, Duke milked the act as best as he could. He gagged and gulped and raced out of the room faster than an Olympic sprinter ever could. And behind him, he left amused looking guests to snicker and laugh about 'the harmless mistake'. _

"_I'll take that as a yes that he ate the chemistry infused cookies." Yami chuckled._

_Concerned, Yugi rose from her place on the piano bench and towards the door. "Ummm.. Solomon, please entertain our guests for a moment. I'll be right back." Because she knew the house like the back of her hand, she left the room hurriedly without raising suspicion to her disability. _

"_Should we help sir?" Ryou asked sympathetically, half standing in case she was in need to help._

"_Who cares!?" Bakura said stretching out like a cat. "Pretty Boy can handle himself! Hey, butler sir! Is there another bathroom I can use?" _

"_Down the hall, take a left, walk ten steps and turn right at a 47 degree angle. From there it's straight ahead in front of your nose." _

"_Thanks." The white haired male said curtly. 'Now… Time to listen in on what Pretty Boy and Shorty are doing'_

_End Flashback_

"Seriously, thanks again for letting me stay the night over. I bet Jaden didn't like that, but I didn't want to go home after crying that much." Duke said begrudgingly.

"It's no problem at all! And don't mind Jaden, he's just being stubborn. Hey… do you-" RING, RING, RING! Yugi's phone screeched and vibrated violently in her pocket, startling her. She still wasn't used to the small device in her hands. Running her hands over the Braille, she pressed the 'talk' button as soon as her fingers made contact with it. "Sorry Duke. I'll be just a second. Hello? Yugi Motou speaking."

"_Hey Yugi! It's me Yami." _A nervous voice said.

"Yami!" Yugi yelped as she blushed madly. As soon as she made that silly like shriek, Duke started laughing over the steering wheel, carefully avoiding traffic while enjoying the scene in front of him. "Hi how are you?"

"_I'm fine thanks for asking… Umm… Why does it sound like someone is dying in the background?"_

'Gosh his confused voice sounds so cute' she thought excitedly. "Oh it's only Duke"

Hearing his name being mentioned, unceremoniously and dangerously, he leaned over to Yugi's side of the car and yelled into the phone. "So lover-boy finally calls! I was wondering when he would make his move!"

"I'm so sorry Yami…" Yugi said, blushing even redder than before.

"_No, no… it's okay. He's not wrong. I was actually wondering if you'll go on a date with me."_

"Umm… Right now?" She said uncertainly. "I don't know- Hey! Duke! Give me back the phone!"

"I don't think so! And hey is for horses madam!" Placing the phone on the ear out of Yugi's reach, Duke turned his attention to the confused singer on the other end of the line. "She'd love to go out with you! Just have her back by ten because we have a project to work on. We'll be at her house in about fifteen minutes. Meet us there. Sounds good? Okay bye!"

"What was that for!?" Yugi spat.

"Do I really have to spell it out for you? Alright then! You like him, he likes you, and Yugi plus Yami equals happy couple and pretty babies. Now your IQ has been raised!" Duke laughed carelessly.

However, Yugi was not amused. "I am not amused! What about the engagement? We can't annul that on our own! What about our parents?" The tri-color haired girl's voice rose almost beyond the edge of hysteria and worry. Suddenly, she felt the chill of a glare meeting her face, Duke was not amused at her mention of the engagement.

"We've been over this! No more objections! The whole thing was arranged just so they can-.." Duke stopped speaking abruptly in mid-sentence. He stayed suspiciously quiet for a little bit until his normally steady voice spoke once again but more uneasily and anxious. "Never mind. Just don't ask questions okay?"

'Is he keeping something from me?' Crossing her arms stubbornly, she replied submissively, "Fine! But… What do you do on a date?"

"Yugi… Could this be your first date!?" Duke asked incredulously.

"No! I went out with someone before!" She said quickly. "It… just… wasn't your traditional relationship though… It was too hard to keep… Too many, umm… problems between the both of us…" A hint of sorrow tinted her voice, signaling the end ad possible never-going-to-be-brought-up-again conversation.

"Oh… Okay well! From my experience, dates usually go like this…"

_Yami's POV_

Starting the engine to his old, but restored purple 1996 Chevy convertible (A/N: Don't know much about cars so I apologize!), Yami flipped open his also purple phone and dialed the only number that could relieve him of his nerves, Ryou. Though, he could ask any of his band mates for advice since they ALL had experience and were currently in relationships, the mellow-looking white-haired girl had an air of understanding the others didn't possess too prominently. Patiently, he waited for the girl to answer as he made his way to Yugi's house.

_Click. "Ryou speaking! What's up Yami?"_

"First date nerves." Yami stated despairingly. "Don't laugh, I have no idea what to say, do, or expect. You think you could help me out?"

Static scratched on the other side of the call, a short screech indicating Ryou was shifting the cell phone deep in thought. _"Well, Yami what do you want me to tell you? The best advice I can give is be yourself and listen, not just talk. Take the time to get to know her well, find out her character, her hopes, and dreams. Baby step it though! Don't scare her with so many questions on the first date! Does any of this help?"_

"Very much, thanks!" The singer smiled, hope filled his heart as he thought of the bright girl waiting for him. Her smile, her sweet voice, her gentle aura of kindness; it was just slowly becoming overwhelming thinking about her. '_Her eyes would probably jus be as beautiful if she'd take off those sunglasses,' _Yami thought solemnly. "Wish me luck! I'm pulling up her driveway. Bye Ryou!"

"_Good luck! Tell me the details when you get home okay? Bye!"_

And with an audible _click_, the phone was shut and safely stored in the pocket of his jeans. Yami took a quick look in the mirror to see if he was presentable. His long legs were adorned with dark blue, washed-out jeans and he wore his trademark leather tank top under a blue blazer. Tri-colored hair spiked up in a gravity-defying manner, and his usual leather buckle choker, he was ready to go. Taking a deep breath, he stepped out of the car and strode wistfully up to the driveway meeting Yugi and Duke.

What filled his crimson-amethyst eyes almost made him almost forget all that Ryou had said to him. Standing in front of Yami shyly was Yugi, but instead of the fierce beauty she showed on the night they met, she was bathed in soft glimmers of natural loveliness. She wore a pure white sundress, fitted to her body and flowed at the hips falling gently just above her knees. On her feet, strappy silver sandals exposed the matching anklets decorated with sparkling bells. Her normally sheet pale skin was painted a healthy white-peach and lips the color of a milky pink rose. The untamed hair she was proud of was pulled into a single braid thrown across her shoulder. And as usual, her bulky glasses rested on the bridge of her nose, though not quite disturbing the image she created for herself. Compared to him, Yugi looked like she belonged in a field of flowers instead of the industrial world she was born into.

Realizing he was staring, Yami abruptly looked away, his face flushed with embarrassment. Almost musically, he shyly greeted Yugi and Duke as they treaded softly towards him. "Hey…"

"Hey..." Yugi replied with an equally timid demeanor.

However, the raven-haired boy at her side wasn't amused with the two's reluctance. Irritated, and visibly perplexed, he intruded curtly, "Is for horses. JADEN! HURRY UP!"

With an earsplitting slam, the door of the Motou mansion came to a closing SLAM as the Kuriboh of a boy hurried across the lawn and to the waiting trio. "Don't get your damn panties in a bunch! I'm right here!" The brunette complained sarcastically.

"What's going on? ..." Yami asked, snapped out of his "blanked out" state eyeing the younger Motou uneasily.

"You really think I'm going to leave my precious Yugi all alone with you?" Duke smirked mockingly, hands on his hips and a brow raised to regard the older man, he laughed dryly. "Ha! Jaden and his date will be watching over the two of you and will be sending me reports." And with a mock salute and a wink directed at the Motou's, he swerved deftly back to the house and left the other's to their own devices.

"Great, an unwelcome guest. TWO I might add…" Yami muttered, not wanting Yugi or Jaden to hear his complaint. Gesturing to the figure strutting away, he regarded the younger brunette with a hint of annoyance in his speech. "That guy is a piece of work isn't he."

"Yes, we all know you have a secret GAY crush on him, but now's not the time to drool or check him out. We gotta pick up Chazz!" Equally annoyed, Jaden replied as he discreetly deposited Yugi to the front passenger's seat.

All the car doors slammed shut, and in no time, they were on the road.

"Who's Chazz?" Yami asked curiously and wanting to start a conversation that was hopefully less awkward than he felt. "Is she that goth girl who hung out with your brother yesterday?"

At this, Yugi beamed. Like a mother bragging about her child's accomplishments, she dutifully patted the brunette's fluffy hair and laughed joyfully. "Yup! He's finally got the nerve to ask her out!"

"Nice bro! Hope everything goes well for you guys! Hey, where did you say she lived again?"

After twenty minutes of misleading directions, bursting arguments, and numerous frustrated sighs of defeat, they were headed to Domino City Park with Chazz coolly sitting beside the nervous brunette in the back seat. "Where are we going?" The Goth girl asked curiously.

Yami, eyes trained ahead, replied immediately, and almost shyly glancing at Yugi as he responded, "Well, I thought going for a picnic in the city park would be nice, but since you guys tagged along, I guess we should go to a movie instead."

"No!" Chazz said abruptly. Realizing her mistake and silently reprimanding herself, she tried again. "I mean, a picnic in the park is fine! It's... romantic!"

Arriving at the Domino City Park in the midst of the noon's soft rays lightened the hearts of the group as they set up their spoils under the lone cherry blossom tree the park proudly boasted. Though Yugi couldn't see it, flowers and greenery of all shades smiled at their entrance, welcoming them to a day of pure relief and subtle enjoyment of nature's gift. Stone walkways and sidewalks shone glimmered silver as the sun rose over them and emitted faint warmth too soft to be felt with the caress of a small palm. Morning dew remained captive in the leaves above and around them leaving behind the wondrous aroma of the ancient earth and soil they rested on. To the touch, they felt like tears fallen from the great cherry blossom tree, blooming with luminous pink buds on its branches. The group sighed in content as they took in the sight and scenery around them and breathed in the scent of an earthy home. However, Yugi sighed in momentary depression. The Domino City Park had once been her favorite place to visit as a child but as her vision faded, so did the memories of the enchanting meadow of flowers and wide open spaces.

"Gonna serenade my sister now are you?" Jaden said as Yami had none too discreetly pulled out a guitar case settled in the grass a small distance away.

Glaring, Yami met the younger boy's challenge. "Be lucky I'm feeding you Kuriboh Head!" Ignoring Jaden's protests of the horrid nickname, Yami rested beside Yugi, close enough to hear her faint breathing and close enough to feel her feet beside his. "Let's see. I brought peanut butter and jelly, tuna sandwiches, veggie sandwiches, a large canister of iced tea, umm… a bunch of grapes … and an apple for each of us."

Laughing, Yugi poked where she though Yami's shoulder was and leaned back into the cherry blossom tree. "Are you feeding an army or do you think I'm fat?!" She cried teasingly.

"No! Not at all!" Yami stuttered. "I just didn't know what you might like so I brought a lot!" Blushing like the apples he packed, he hung his head in slight embarrassment. He felt at ease, though, that Yugi was smiling despite how awkward and nervous he felt inside. _'Don't try too hard. Ryou gave me good advice, I should follow it."_ He thought reassuringly.

"How sweet." Chazz said as she gazed out into the park lost in its beauty.

"And oddly dead on." Jaden chuckled. "Those are some of Yugi's favorite foods. You sure you're not a stalker Mr. Oh-So-Great-Millennium-Rock-Star!"

"On the contrary my friend, those happen to be my favorite picnic snacks! Plus I'm a good guesser. Come on dig in! The food won't eat itself you know!" Yami countered half-heartily, feeling better and more confident about the date.

"True, thanks Yami!" Yugi beamed.

The group continued to talk frivolously about nonsense and humorous stories of humiliation as they ate good food. Yugi, enjoying herself began to drift in and out of the conversation as she felt the bark beneath her back. Like any other tree, the bark was rough and crooked with uneven breaks in the wood, but this one carried an eerily familiar smooth feel. Yami's story became buzzing in her ears as she tried to remember the long-buried memory of the bark. It was important, desperately important as she traced the patterns discreetly in concentration. It felt like the-

"So do you think you'll be able to come?" Yami asked interrupting Yugi's thoughts.

"Wha…? I'm sorry what?!" Yugi yelped.

Chazz, Jaden, and Yami all laughed teasingly at the small girl's aloofness. And even more so as she turned redder and redder.

"I'm sorry for laughing Yugi!" Yami chuckled, his baritone voice comforted. "I was wondering if you'll be able to make it to the debut of "Hero", the song you submitted for the contest. It's this Saturday in Tokyo."

"I don't think I have plans for this Saturday. We'll see! I'll try to come, okay?"

"That's all that I ask." Yami purred, his deep voice lowering to a gentle whisper flowing gently and eagerly to her ears. "Maybe we could hang out afterwards. You should bring your guitar, we could play a few tunes while everyone else messes around."

"That would be nice…" Yugi replied entranced. Yami's voice mystified her, like a magician to his crowd. She was trapped in his words, and there was probably no way out.

"Can we come!?" Chazz and Jaden exclaimed excitedly. Like puppies, their tongues hung out of their mouths in anticipation.

"Don't the both of you have exams coming up this week?"

"Nooooo…"

Yugi chuckled, _'It was too easy with these two!'_ she thought grinning. "Is my answer. Now go climb the tree or something!"

For a few seconds, no one understood what the small, tri-colored girl meant, and as it dawned on them, the two younger of the group sauntered their way to the other side of the tree. Their grumpiness was short lived as the brunette boy and the crow-haired girl laughed and chased each other around in a made up game in their made up world.

Strumming gently on his guitar, Yami hummed along to the beat as Yugi turned her attention from her brother to the rhythmic beat she craved. It was a slow, solemn melody. One that could make you think of past sorrows and make you feel hollow in the pit of your stomach. Unconsciously, Yugi began to him along; Yami the harmony, Yugi the melody. Together, they sang in complete unison, so pure and everlasting it felt. Mournfully, Yugi began to add words without warning Yami.

_White walls surround us,_

_No light will touch your face again,_

_Rain taps the windows, _

_As we sleep among the dead._

_Days go on forever,_

_But I have not left your side, _

_We can chase the dark together,_

_If you go then so will I._

Pausing, Yugi felt an intense stare boring into her, stopping her train of thought and eagerness to continue the song. The stare felt incredulous, shocked almost as it prickled her skin abruptly. Blushing in nervousness, she turned away from the stare knowing full well who it was.

It was Yami. His crimson-amethyst eyes gaped wide at the girl. The unfinished tune in his head was conveyed exactly how Yugi sang it. What he wouldn't dare say or sing aloud, the girl stole from his mind and used them against him. A welcome thief she was, but it was surprising how well she could tell the emotion behind the melody and to add lyrics of such mournful caliber. The older man wanted her to sing more, to hear more of his forbidden thoughts be sung aloud by his mind reader. _I wonder if she knew him…_

"Yugi? … Are you okay?" Yami said cautiously.

"I'm sorry, I ruined your song didn't I." Yugi replied miserably. She twisted her hands in her lap, awaiting Yami to yell or say words of cruel intentions, she didn't know. She just had a heightened feeling that the song meant more to him than she believed.

"No! You actually sang what I've been trying to say for a long time!"

Confused, Yugi faced to where Yami's voice was. "What do you mean?"

Scratching his head, Yami sought for the words to explain how he felt. He wasn't good at expressing through speech, only song. "Well … About five years ago, a good friend of mine died in an accident. He was a very important person in my life, Millennium's first fan so to speak when we were barely starting out. He gave us hope to go for it, to fight to be heard." Yami smiled grimly. A story as hard as this should be heard by only one person, one he thought he could trust. "Anyway, I wanted to write a song in honor of him but every time I thought about him, I couldn't think of anything that would be suitable. What you did just now, I think he would be really happy to hear, a song of longing, longing to see an old friend."

"Ohh... I'm sorry about your friend." Yugi shivered slightly. She was right, the song was more important than she thought. However, a small burst of happiness filled her heart. She was able to help Yami and that, in itself, comforted her and knew that it comforted him as well. "What was his name?"

"His name was A-"

"HEY! Guys! Let's go for a walk around the park before it gets late!" Jaden interrupted suddenly. Chazz was wrapped snugly in the brunette's arms, grinning timidly at the feel of his foreign but welcome affection.

Sighing, Yami deflated for a moment in grief, and then cheered himself up. "I'll tell you later, just remind me or I'll forget. I'm going to put the picnic basket and the guitar in the car, can you wait out here for me?"

"Yea sure! A walk sounds like fun! Can you help me up before you go though?" A hand grabbed her outstretched one, and lifted her gently back to her feet. Using the tree as support, she squeezed Yami's hand and released him. "Thanks! I'll wait up here for you okay?"

"Can't seem to get there fast enough." He chuckled.

His footfalls faded softly in the grass, disappearing slowly from Yugi's listening range. Feeling the strange bark beneath her finger tips, she walked around it, one hand feeling the bark and guiding her safely. At first, she thought she was being silly, being suspicious of TREE BARK for crying out loud. As she was about to drop her hand in defeat, she felt an abnormal carving on the tree. Tracing it, it felt as though it were cut from a knife, small and unnoticeable to those who weren't looking hard enough. She poked at it mindlessly for a moment until suddenly, she froze. Within a carved heart, the words carved into the bark sent shivers up and down her spine like restless ghosts.

_Brother and Sister Forever:_

_Atemu loves Yugi_

_Yugi loves Atemu_

_Author's Note:_

Heart: *stretch* Finally done! This was different than the outline, but hey! When given poetic license, take advantage of it! Evil here was a good sport about letting me change dialogue and actions and the like.

Evil: Yup. Sorry if the last chapter was a little lengthy. I was totally my fault. Hope you enjoy! Comment, critique, I don't give a flying f #$, I just want to sleep! =_=

Heart: Night guys! It's eleven at night and I vowed I wouldn't stay up late anymore! Look how that turned out…

Both: Enjoy!


	14. Chapter 14

_**Author's Note:**_

Heart: Hey guys sorry for yet another delay. Seems like school is kicking our asses more than usual. :P Anyways, here's the next chapter enjoy. =.=

Evil: By the way, Heart's a little peeved that you guys found out about something so quick. You can already guess what I'm talking about, if not, I'll explain later. XP

Heart: Yeah, sure. EVIL! DISCLAIMER PLEASE!

Evil: Don't get your panties up your ass, I'm right here! We don't own the songs written here. We don't own YuGiOh, if we did, we'd have yaoi and shounen ai central over here. BUT WE DON'T. Enjoy guys!

_**Chapter 14:**__ Heroes and Villains_

An eerie silence befell the Motou household as night woke from its slumber. The air was shrouded in a tense cloud, like a taut wire straining until it can no longer stretch. And in an instant, it all erupted into chaos. Halls, once lonely and undisturbed, resonated piercing screams and anger-filled tears across its empty splendor. The maids hide behind pillars and in the empty halls, frightened at the master of the house. The man of perpetual stone had transformed into an unfamiliar devil of the dreaded hell he crawled out of. In rage, he stood over the young tri-colored girl who hesitantly but fearlessly stood against him and was advancing upon her swiftly. A fierce and unyielding gleam shone in his once vacant brown eyes as he towered over Yugi.

"Keep your mouth shut! Who do you think you are?" Gozobouro yelled.

Yugi flinched and shuddered in fear, but rebelliously, she lifted her head and spat back with equal venom in her shaky voice. "I don't know, maybe YOUR DAUGHTER!"

SLAP!

A crack sounded across the room as Yugi fell to the ground. Biting back tears, she sniffed and slowly tried to sit. She held her cheek and hid her face with her hair, trying to crawl away as her father's footsteps became louder and louder in her ears. A piercing glare shot through her body, a look of hatred so pure it frightened her more than anything.

"You are not my daughter. You're a murderer with the face of my daughter who died with her brother. A weak, pathetic cripple that doesn't deserve what she has! IF IT WASN'T FOR YOU ATEM WOULD STLL BE ALIVE!" Dragging Yugi to her feet, he gripped her arm in an iron hold, crushing it with searing pain. And again he struck out at her, this time for her head, the impact sending her bulky glasses flying to the other side of the room. "I'll teach you to be-"

"Ahem, sir, Master Duke is here to greet you." Solomon said wearily. The old man looked ages older than he was as he distressingly witnessed his master's treatment of poor Yugi. His shoulders stooped in sorrow for he could do nothing for the girl he considered his own kin. Gently, he motioned for Duke to greet Gozobouro though the boy was paler than he had ever been. And after a moment, he sighed in defeat and trudged regretfully into the kitchen, escaping the scene before him.

However, Duke didn't have to do anything. Gozobouro slipped on his smiling mask of professionalism as he approached the raven-haired boy with Yugi following helplessly behind. "Ah, Duke, I wasn't aware that you were here. Welcome! Come, come, have a seat in the parlor!"

"No thank you sir, I won't be staying long, I just wanted to make a request."

Narrowing his eyes, he eyed Duke suspiciously. He let go of Yugi and faced the boy fully, looking him up and down like a product to sell or discard. "What kind of request are we talking about here?"

Reproachfully, Duke stared back at the devil in front of him. Crossing his arms, he restrained himself from sprinting to Yugi's side and calling the police. In this situation it was best to stay in favor with the devil father. "I wanted to ask your permission to escort Yugi to Tokyo. It would be a great opportunity to visit a Shinto shrine and pray for a successful marriage as well as prosperity for both of our family businesses."

At the sound of the words like milk and honey, Gozobouro brightened. Slapping the young boy on the back, he laughed frivolously, a strange, strangled guttural laugh that seemed more sinister than joy. "Of course, of course! What a wonderful idea! When do you plan to depart, son?"

'Son', Yugi thought forlornly. When her brother had died, her parents love for her died with it. In the dark corners of her thoughts, she pondered on whether or not they even loved her at all. Just an extra next to Atemu, never really apart of the family. 'A son, they only ever wanted sons, not a crippled girl like me. And now they want to replace Atemu with Duke.' Frustrated, she inconspicuously shook off her negativity. 'Be strong,' she thought. 'Atemu would want me to be strong.'

Turning away from her self-pity, she lifted her head high, hoping it would reassure the soft prickling of concern she sensed radiating from Duke.

"I plan to leave this Friday sir. We will go once Yugi and I are finished with school and return Sunday morning." Duke flashed a businessman-like grin. Despite his professional bravado, his core rolled and twisted treacherously. Black and purple blossomed across Yugi's face as the fury red slowly burned across her cheek. What frightened the raven-haired boy even more were her eyes. They were beautiful, pure bright amethyst against the pale of her skin; a light in even the darkest corners of a room. No, it wasn't her eyes, it was the scars laced around and across them that alarmed him. Carved deeply into her face like a hammer to stone, they were prominent and dominated his vision. He could only imagine what kind of torture could scar her and take away Yugi's sight. '_No wonder why she wears those glasses…' _Duke's emerald eyes narrowed in concern, causing Yugi to flinch at the intensity of the stare.

But before he could incidentally slip off his guise of nonchalance, the sound of metallic clicks filled the hall behind him. _Click, click, click,_ signaled the entrance of none other than Anzu Motou. Both of the men turned at her arrival, Yugi still pale-faced and silent, didn't move a muscle. The brunette swayed her hips to the beat of her unbearable tall black satin heels, and moved with fierce determination. She possessed a ferocity that could turn deadly at any moment if not handled with care. Like any male tycoon, Anzu was them ten-fold, unstoppable.

"Why so late? Shouldn't you be doing schoolwork instead of hanging around aimlessly in Tokyo?" She said coolly as she gave Yugi a glare full of malice. Apparently, she was the viper watching in the shadows until opportunity arose.

"I figured Yugi and I would need some rest from the flight. After all, jet lag is so annoying." He said chuckling. "Also, my father wants me to check on one of our branches in Tokyo. One of our employees reported a problem that could take a while to resolve."

At this Gozobouro beamed proudly. Duke was the man's new favorite son, responsible and focused. "Admirable. Well, my boy, you have my permission. YUGI! Show Duke out and don't be disrespectful!" he growled.

"Thank you sir."

"Call me father."

Awkwardly, Duke coughed before responding somewhat caught of guard, "Umm… Thank you… Father."

Without warning, Duke felt warmth in his hand. Startled, he found Yugi at his side tugging him gently to the empty hall awaiting them. Her face was cast downwards, the shadows and her curtain of hair hiding what the girl was ashamed of. Duke allowed himself to be lead once again through the maze of the Motou mansion as Yugi as his guide. Words like 'monster' and 'never should've lived' reverberated off the walls and followed their ears to the front door. Melancholic silence followed as they treaded slowly out the door and into the solemn night, neither ready to face each other just yet.

The feeble blue light of the moon shone above them as they reached Duke's car sitting idly in the drive way. The humid night air stilled and the two's breaths were the only sounds present throughout the illuminated darkness as they both stood waiting; who would break the silence first? Duke did, no longer able to control the anger and sympathy crashing inside him, he embraced Yugi. Holding her with all the love he could give, all the hope, all the pain, and all the forgotten dreams, the raven-haired boy held her because he couldn't save her. He didn't know how to. Instead, he comforted her with all that he could, he allowed her to sob silently into his shoulder and take solace in his embrace. Many words could've been said that moment, 'It's okay', 'everything will be alright', but they both remained silent. Those words were already said unspoken.

Shifting slightly out of the embrace, Duke leaned back and gazed into Yugi's scarred face, etching her tear-stained eyes into his memory. "I'm so sorry Yugi…" he said as his voice cracked. When she made no response, he kissed her forehead softly; a gentle butterfly's wing beat against her racing thoughts and pounding heart.

Duke turned to his car and waited stonily in the driver's seat until he made sure Yugi made it through the front door safely. Running a hand through his long black locks, he reviewed the night's events in his head and sighed deeply. '_Why her? ... Why does God have to give such a cruel life to a sweet girl?' _In a fight of momentary fury, he slammed the engines to life and sped down the street leaving behind dust in his wake.

_Click, click, click._

The flash of a camera and a deep chuckle sounded from across the road. "Well, well, well. Cinderella has a prince, eh? What to do with these pictures now? Decisions, decisions."

Yami's POV

To others, it was another normal Friday night in Tokyo, Japan. Teens, adults, and children alike covered the city-light bathed streets searching for a wonderful time of laughter and enjoyment. Shops and stores beckoned them with their wares with brightly colored signs and smiles plastered on faces of unwilling workers. Above, the stars shone faintly, blinded more by the city than their own luminous light. Yes, to others, Friday night was blissful comfort. However, Yami Sennen embodied the unusual and abnormal persona of the everyday man so even in the fancy hotel room he occupied didn't deter his opinion of an ominous night. If the stars didn't shine brightly overhead despite the overbearing illumination of the city of wonders, something was wrong. Not even one could be faintly traced in the clear night sky.

The crimson-amethyst eyed singer sat cross-legged on the far corner of his room with the lights off. Music gently spilled into the room, filling in and blocking out noise. He stationed himself in front of a makeshift altar surrounded by dozens of white luminous candles, praying in silence as the crowds gathering made noise for him. Opening his eyes, he peered at the altar, staring glumly at the newspaper clipping in front of him. On the framed piece of paper a boy no older than seventeen with piercing eyes and a mass of hair held at bay by a black beanie smiled back almost mockingly at the man. Bitterly, Yami returned to praying, concentrating his mind into blocking out everything but his thoughts.

SLAM!

Well, there went his peace. Bakura strode in carelessly, almost blowing out the candles with the breeze the door caused. Catching sight of Yami's occult-looking altar, the white-haired guitarist smirked, "You still praying for that Ishigami guy, Yams? It's been years, let it go man!"

"Why should I?" Yami responded without opening his eyes. "He's the one that started it all and supported us from the very beginning. Don't forget the sacrifices Ishigami made for us." '_And how he opened my eyes to music...'_

"That was all us! Not him! WE started the band, not some wannabe street-skater! You should forget about him, nothing will bring him back anyway!" Bakura shot heatedly, irritated he had no credit in creating the band.

"Not likely, Fluffy."

"Hey, all I'm saying is-"

"Guys. It's midnight." Ryou said as she peered hesitantly through the open door. Cautiously, she made her way to the boys across the darkly-lit room and yawned heavily. "We need to sleep, the concert's tomorrow. Bakura, please come back to bed," the white-haired girl said softly as she took her boyfriend's hand.

Bakura tore his hand out of Ryou's grip and stalked out of range. Turning as he got to the door, he yelled, "I'll do what I want! Just leave me alone!" And with another slam, he made his dramatic exit leaving both Yami and Ryou in wide-eyed astonishment.

Ryou dropped her head in disappointment. Sighing, she turned back to Yami and sat down beside him, wordlessly she began praying with him. "Ryou…" Yami began hesitantly. "Are you okay?"

"Yes…"

Hearing the crack in the white-haired girl's voice, Yami placed a hand gently on her back. Though she had her eyes closed, he gave her a measuring gaze. Even under the dim candlelight bathing her, he could still see the unspoken hurt that weighted her. "No, you're not. All he's been doing is hurting you Ryou. Just the other day he skipped out on your date with him to go 'take a walk'. Why do you put up with him?"

"I…. Bakura wasn't always this way." Ryou breathed deeply eyes still closed in concentration. "Listen, Yami. I know you don't agree, but just leave it alone okay? Everything's fine."

The finality in her tone shut the door between them. Yami knew the girl well enough to know that was the end of it. No more discussion, no more coaxing anything out of her unless he wanted to be assaulted by a frying pan. Already a Kuriboh had fallen victim to the wrath of Ryou and he didn't want to be the next. Sighing in frustrated, he removed his hand from her and sat back. "Okay Ryou, you win. But if you ever need me, I'm here."

"I know, thank you Yami."

Together, they enveloped themselves in silent prayer, acknowledging the lost soul smiling brightly at them. In this comfortable trance, dark thoughts and violent emotions left them as they lost themselves to the beat of the faint melody calling them home.

"Are you sure you want to go, Yugi? We can just go to the site and stay there instead." Duke whispered gently into the darkness.

And the darkness replied, "Of course I want to go. Atemu would have wanted me to go."

Saturday Night, Tokyo Concert Hall

Tokyo Concert Hall was packed. Seriously packed for a Friday midnight concert. Every possible space was filled within seconds, bodies cramped and squished against another uncomfortably but tensed in similar apprehension. Screams of excitement could be heard throughout the building as fans gathered into the stadium awaiting the leather-clad band hiding back stage. Security roamed tirelessly throughout the infrastructure chasing down unwanted fans in private rooms and facing possible death by fan-girl stampede. Good thing they were decked out with night sticks, pepper spray, and a huge ass shield for protection or else the girls would've outmatched them.

'_Thank Ra for the security guards.'_ Yami thought solemnly. The man strummed gently a crimson and black with the insignia of the band's logo, the golden Eye of Horus and hummed calmly as the rest of the group assembled and finally completed prepping their instruments. '_I wonder if she'll show…' _

"Millennium, you're up! Kick some musical ass!" A stage manager called encouragingly before returning to his duties.

Rising from his seat, Yami fell into step with everyone. Entering the stage was dream-like in a sense. The screams and cries of the crowd dimmed into a quiet roar under the sound of his beating heart. The ground vibrated beneath the soles of his leather-clad feet, rocking and swaying to the beat of the excitement and anticipation that was heavily clouding the air. _Thump, thump, thump._ Pounding filled his ears as he gripped the microphone slowly from its stand.

'_Yami, when you look into the crowd, show them what you showed me. You have that passionate fire in your soul, you love music right? Show them how much you love it. Show them the true meaning to music. You'll be fine I promise. I promise you Yami.'_

With a newfound energy pouring through his veins, he shot a fist into the air and smiled wickedly. His amethyst-crimson eyes gleamed sharply against the harsh white light surrounding him, emitting an aura of absolute command of the stage he stood proudly on. "Hello Tokyo! Are you ready for Millennium?"

Hysterical screams, cries, and cheers immediately responded to Yami's presence. Not one person in the stadium remained silent. The need to release their voice, to be heard above everyone else, to show their admiration prevented not one soul to hold their breath. Chuckling, Yami grinned mischievously as he searched through the crowd, his eyes longing to gaze upon one person he had hoped would come.

"Remember the song writing contest we hosted? Well, tonight, get ready to here our winners! Second runner up, Headstrong by Mai Valentine!"

A crash of drums and a slam on a guitar signaled the sudden start of their show. Arising another cheer from the crowd, they lost themselves to the beat; surrendering all worries and cares, Yami sang with his entire being.

_You're circling, you're circling, _

_You're circling, you're circling in your head,_

_Contemplating everything you've ever said._

_Now I see the truth, I got a doubt._

_I get the motive in your eyes, _

_And now I'm out, see you later._

_I see your fantasy,_

_You want to make them a reality paved in gold,_

_See inside, inside of our heads yeah._

_Well now that's over, it's over._

_I see your motives inside, _

_And your decisions in mind._

_WHOOAAA!_

_Back off, I'll take you on,_

_Headstrong can take on anyone._

_I know that you are wrong,_

_Headstrong, headstrong._

_Back off, I'll take you on,_

_Headstrong can take on anyone._

_I know that you are wrong and this is not where you belong. _

_I can't give everything away…_

_And I won't give everything away! _

Sweat gathered across Yami's forehead. He was pumped, insanely pumped. Whatever feeling he was receiving from this song, it was static electricity. Yami moved across the stage, not once ever taking his eyes off of the crowd. They came for a show, for the music, he would make damn sure they enjoyed it and would make it a night to remember.

_Conclusions manifest._

_Your first impressions got to be your very best,_

_I see you're full of shit and that's alright. _

_It's how you play and guess who gets there every night,_

_Well now that's over…._

_I see your fantasy,_

_You want to make it a reality paved in gold,_

_See inside, inside of our heads yeah._

_Well now that's over, it's over._

_I see your motives inside,_

_And your decisions in mind…_

_WHOOOAAAA!_

_Back off, I'll take you on,_

_Headstrong can take on anyone._

_I know that you are wrong,_

_Headstrong, headstrong._

_Back off, I'll take you on,_

_Headstrong can take on anyone._

_I know that you are wrong and this is not where you belong. _

_I can't give everything away…_

_And I won't give everything away!_

_I know, I don't wanna hurt you,_

_I know, I don't wanna hurt you._

_I see your motives inside…_

_And your decisions in mind… _

_WHOOOAAAA!_

_Back off, I'll take you on,_

_Headstrong can take on anyone._

_I know that you are wrong,_

_Headstrong, headstrong._

_Back off, I'll take you on,_

_Headstrong can take on anyone._

_I know that you are wrong and this is not where you belong. _

_I can't give everything away…_

_And I won't give everything away!_

Stepping back momentarily from the mic, Yami took a breath as he allowed the electricity to flow from his body. Though that static surge left him, adrenaline still coursed throughout his body. And judging by the reactions of the audience, they were equally entranced with the performance. "_MORE! MORE! MORE!"_ they begged.

"Our first runner up, This is War by Yusei Fudo!" He yelled. As Bakura started the guitar to a gentle rhythm, he swayed his hips slowly behind the mic stand. Yami clutched it with both of his hands as though it would fly away with the sweet melody spilling into the stadium. The quick heat of adrenaline shifted to shrouded mystery and tense eagerness; the spell of insanity broken and gave way to the coming storm.

_A warning, to the people,_

_The good and the evil._

_This is war._

_To the soldier, the civilian, _

_The martyr, the victim,_

_This is war._

_It's the moment of truth, _

_And the moment to lie,_

_The moment to live, _

_And the moment to die._

_The moment to fight, the moment to fight,_

_To fight, to fight, _

_TO FIGHT!_

_To the right, to the left,_

_We will fight to the death!_

_From the edge of the earth, _

_It's a brave new world from the last to the first._

_To the right, to the left,_

_We will fight to the death!_

_From the edge of the earth, _

_It's a brave new world, it's a brave new world!_

_A warning to the prophet,_

_The liar, the honest._

_This is war._

_Ooooohhh!_

_To the leader, the messiah, _

_The victim, the pariah,_

_This. Is. War!_

_It's the moment of truth, _

_And the moment to lie,_

_The moment to live, _

_And the moment to die._

_The moment to fight, the moment to fight,_

_To fight, to fight, _

_TO FIGHT!_

_To the right, to the left,_

_We will fight to the death!_

_From the edge of the earth, _

_It's a brave new world from the last to the first._

_To the right, to the left,_

_We will fight to the death!_

_From the edge of the earth, _

_It's a brave new world, it's a brave new world!_

_IT'S A BRAVE NEW WORLD!_

_I do believe in the light._

_Raise your hands into the sky._

_The fight is done,_

_The war is won._

_Lift your hands toward the sun. _

_Toward the sun_

_(It's the moment of truth and the moment to lie)_

_(The moment to live and the moment to die)_

_Toward the sun_

_(It's the moment of truth and the moment to lie)_

_(The moment to live and the moment to die)_

_Toward the sun_

_(The moment to fight, the moment to fight)_

_(To fight, to fight, to fight)_

_The war is won._

_To the right, to the left,_

_We will fight to the death!_

_From the edge of the earth, _

_It's a brave new world from the last to the first._

_To the right, to the left,_

_We will fight to the death!_

_From the edge of the earth, _

_It's a brave new world, it's a brave new world!_

_IT'S A BRAVE NEW WORLD!_

_A brave new world,_

_The war is won, the war is won._

_A brave new world!_

As the final notes came to a soft stop, Yami breathed in content. The final reveal was here. Scanning the crowd once more, he finally found the girl he was looking for. She, like the others around her, was screaming in a chaotic unison while smiling up at him. He frowned inwardly at the sight of her bulky glasses, once again blocking her eyes from view, preventing him from reading what she really thought. '_You're doing great Yami. It's the last one now, think you can handle it?' _Smirking at the brotherly voice in his head, he stepped forward to the outermost edge of the stage. "And our winner is Hero by Yugi Motou!" A spotlight shined down on the girl as Yami pointed to her in the sea of indescribable faces. "This one's for you! Thanks for everything!"

Without another word, he turned his back to the audience as the stage settled into darkness. He took his place in the middle of the stage, eyes shut as he patiently waited until the entire stadium fell into an abrupt silence. A white pillar shone onto Bakura as he started the song, rolling into a double beat as a lone wolf. For a moment, the white haired man was the only thing to be seen under the white illumination. Then, as the drums joined the heavy beat, Marik appeared in his own pillar of light. Suddenly, the whole stage was bathed in brilliant flickering light. Taking a breath, Yami fell into the trance he experienced when he rehearsed this at Yugi' house. His eyes shot open as he sang, letting his powerful voice resonate broadly through out the room.

_I'm just a step away,_

_I'm a just a breath away;_

_Losing my faith today,_

_Falling off the edge today!_

_I am just a man,_

_Not superhuman;_

_I'm not superhuman!_

_Someone save me from the hate_

_It's just another war,_

_Just another family torn;_

_I'm falling from my faith today!_

_Just a step from the edge,_

_Just another day in the world we live;_

_I need a Hero,_

_To save me now!_

_I need a Hero!_

_Save me now!_

_I need a Hero,_

_To save my life!_

_A Hero'll save me!_

_Just in time!_

_I gotta fight today,_

_To live another day;_

_Speakin' my mind today,_

_My voice will be heard today!_

_I've gotta make a stand,_

_But I am just a man;_

_I'm not superhuman!_

_My voice will be heard today!_

_It's just another war,_

_Just another family torn;_

_My voice will be heard today!_

_It's just another kill,_

_The countdown begins to destroy ourselves!_

_I need a Hero,_

_To save me now!_

_I need a Hero!_

_Save me now!_

_I need a Hero,_

_To save my life!_

_A Hero'll save me!_

_Just in time!_

_I need a Hero,_

_To save my life!_

_I need a Hero!_

_Just in time!_

_Save me just in time..._

_Save me just in time..._

_Who's gonna fight for what's right,_

_Who's gonna help us survive,_

_We're in the fight of our lives!_

_And we're not ready to die!_

_Who's gonna fight for the weak,_

_Who's gonna make 'em believe,_

_I've got a Hero!_

_I've got a Hero!_

_Livin' in me!_

_I'm gonna fight for what's right,_

_Today I'm speaking my mind,_

_And if it kills me tonight,_

_I will be ready to die!_

_A Hero's not afraid to give His life,_

_A Hero's gonna save me just in time!_

_I need a Hero,_

_To save me now!_

_I need a Hero!_

_Save me now!_

_I need a Hero,_

_To save my life!_

_A Hero'll save me!_

_Just in time!_

Backstage After the Show

Brooding atop a large amplifier, Yami strummed lazily on his old worn-out acoustic. After the concert had finished, the singer waited impatiently for Yugi to come backstage and meet him and the band like she promised. For two hours he sat that way, waiting even after everyone had gone alone behind the curtains.

'_I can't believe Yugi didn't show… I guess it wasn't meant to be.'_ He thought forlornly. Checking his phone, he hastily put away his guitar into its case and hopped off the amplifier. Feet landing with a thud, he strode purposefully to the exit without a second thought. '_I'll visit Ishigami, maybe seeing him again will clear my head.'_


End file.
